All Is Fair In Love And War
by MadeByRF
Summary: Early 1900s. Bella is a servant and best friend to Caroline who took Bella in when her parents died. Caroline decides to bring Bella with her on a cruise. But what if no passenger onboard, including Caroline, is human?And what happens if she meets Edward?
1. Introduction

**A/N: Hi guys, I hope you're having an awesome holiday! As a small holiday surprise, I decided to post a chapter of a fan fiction I started to write but then absolutely forgot about. If you like it and want me to continue it, please let me know! :D **

**Chapter 1: Introduction **

"Miss Gray, are you done yet?" I called into the other room, and just as the words were out of my mouth, she appeared in the threshold, looking beautiful as always.

"There is no need to be so formal, Bella." She said, her naturally dark red curls bobbing up and down as she happily skipped to my side. "As always, call me Caroline." She looked into my eyes with her yellow ones. Her features were rather childlike for a 21 year old, and the smile that was painted on her lips seemed to have a permanent place there. I sighed at her behavior, but couldn't help but to smile a small smile to myself. That was just the way she acted. All the other ladies in her age acted like they were supposed to; sophisticated, calmly and ladylike. Miss Caroline on the other hand… she was the total opposite. She wasn't a snob like the majority of the nobles I had met in my life. She was a very kind and warm person. If she just walked into the room, the whole atmosphere seemed to lighten up.

She stretched out a hand towards my face and stroked my cheek with a soft touch, her cold skin connecting with mine. She stared at me for a long time with scrutinizing eyes, and then her face became gentle and sweet.

"You're so cute." She said softly with a blissful smile on her face, which made me blush. "There is nothing you have to worry about, everything will be fine." She told me, than removed her hand from my cheek. I nodded, but her words didn't ease my anxiety. Miss Caroline had been invited to a cruise by one of her dear old friends. The reason I was worried wasn't that I was easily seasick and we were going to be out on the sea for a week. The reason for my concern was that Miss Caroline's health was so fragile. She was born with a sensitive skin, and couldn't be in any direct sunlight. That's why we lived in one of the rainiest parts of the country. On sunny days she had to stay inside in her room with heavy curtains pulled over the windows, which made it impossible for the suns light beams to enter the room.

Caroline moved away from me, her dress swirling in the movement, and then walked over to the grand piano. She sat down and then turned her head towards me and smiled tenderly.

"Do you wish me to play anything certain?" Her eyes beamed with excitement like they always did whenever she decided to play the piano, but I politely shook my head, and gestured for her to choose whatever she liked. She shrugged, and then turned back to the piano and started to play a piece. Her hands moved over the keys gracefully as she played the beautiful melody, and she sang along one octave higher than the actual song, her voice beautiful and clear as a silver bell. Like everything else she did, her performance was absolutely spotless, and when she finished, I clapped my hands joyfully. She was very musically talented, and loved to play various instruments.

She jumped off the stool and then came back to my side. I smiled at her, and then glanced at the clock.

"Miss, I think it's best if we get ready to go. I have to make the horses ready for our journey." I told her, and she sighed, but nodded.

"I'll finish the last of my packing in the meantime then." I stopped in all of my movements. Her words surprised me greatly, and my jaw escaped its original place and dropped to the floor.

"You're not finished?" I exclaimed in surprise and slightly irritation and Miss Caroline's face went from happy to extremely guilty.

"It's just…there were so many things to be packed." She mumbled, looking down at her feet. I sighed and shook my head, and was just about to give her a big scold about her when she looked up at me again, and her eyes looked at me pleadingly.

"I promise I'll be finished before you call me out to the carriage." She said and I sighed once again, this time in defeat. She was very persuasive when she wanted to, and whenever anyone wasn't agreeing to her, she used it to her advantage and pleaded in such a way no one would be able to say no.

"Alright, alright. I'll be in the stables if you need me." I told her, and her face brightened up, satisfied that her will had gotten through. She practically threw herself onto me, and hugged me tightly to her tiny body in a very unladylike way. Then she let me go, and escaped the room, calling over her shoulder that I was to call for her when the carriage was ready, and by that time she would be ready to go. I did as I had said, and walked out of the big mansion that had stayed in the Gray's family for many, many generations. I took a turn to my left, and walked through one of the smaller rose gardens until I came to my original goal: the stables. I opened the doors and stepped inside, the smell of dust and animal hitting my nose hard. I walked over to one of the horses called Zero, and started to groom him gently.

Miss Caroline preferred to ride with horse and carriage instead of with a car, a machine that was recently invented in another country. But the strange thing is that she detested horses. Or, as I see it, the horses detested her. They always got very nervous and sometimes angry when she was around them, and she never visited the stables to check on them. But even so, she still prefered the carriage to the new invented machine that most people of the rich societies rode in. She wasn't really into all these new things that had been invented. Electricity had been a joy of hers, but that was it. She liked the olden ways more: the traditional ways.

After Zero was ready I began to groom the second horse we we're going to use to the carriage, named Jerry. He sighed happily as I drew the brush over his long, strong back.

Miss Caroline had taken very good care of me. I was a servant as a child, growing up together with my parents who also had served the Gray's. When I was 7, a horrible accident happened, and both of my parents died. Mr. Gray, Caroline's father, had no intentions of letting me into the family, and started to arrange my move from the facility to an orphanage. If it wasn't for Miss Caroline, I would've ended up there and never been able to see her again. She convinced her father to let me stay with them, and ever since then I've worked for the Gray's. A few years later when I was 13, both Mr. and Mrs. Gray moved away from the large mansion we were currently staying in, and moved to the city, away from the countryside and all its beautiful nature. They had tried to convince Miss Caroline to come with them, but she politely declined. She loved the nature here, and wouldn't trade the lovely home she had here for anything in the world.

Eventually, both the horses were groomed and fastened to the carriage, and I brushed the dust of my dress before returning to the house again. As I walked, I felt a drop of rain falling down on my shoulder. _Ugh_, I thought, and hurried towards the entrance even faster than before, not wanting my clothes to get wet. Miss Gray had no problem with the rain. How strange it may sound, she actually enjoyed rain quite well. Walking through the forest on the small trails a slightly rainy evening was something we did quite often, and every time we did, her eyes sort of glowed with excitement and delight. Sometimes she would stop me for what I thought was no reason at all, and then point at small animals running by, like she knew they were going to come.

The rain was worse now, and I was almost around the corner of the house when I accidently stepped on the edge of my dress, and began to fall towards the ground. I brought up my hands up to ease the fall, but just before my face hit the ground, a cold hand caught mine and easily pulled me up so I was standing. I stumbled on my unsecure feet, and stared at Miss Caroline in slight shock.

"Miss Caroline, I had no-"I began to say, but she placed one finger over my mouth to silence me, and smiled gently.

"Bella, be more careful next time you decide to run to escape the bad weather. I wouldn't want you to fall and get a cut; that would be really _bad_." She said, and made a grimace. I blushed, and nodded in agreement. Miss Gray had an enormous issue with blood, and couldn't stand to being anywhere near it, not even in the same room. She always became very sick, and needed space from all the persons in the area.

"I'm sorry Miss Caroline." I told her truthfully. She tilted her head slightly to the side, her hands on her hips and her mouth in a disapproving pout, her face frowning.

"Bella," she called warningly. "I don't want to say this one more time: call me Caroline." She said in a firm tone and I stared down at my hands in embarrassment, feeling ashamed.

"I'm sorry Caroline…" I mumbled, and her mood immediately changed. She clapped her hands together excitedly, and squealed in happiness.

"You're so sweet!" she gushed, and as always threw herself at me and hugged her small body to mine. Even though she was 4 years older than me, her size remained smaller. She let me go after a small moment, and I fixed her dress so it wouldn't get wrinkles on it. I could feel that the fabric had become quite wet under my skin, but I hoped it would get dry soon once we were inside, away from the cold and wet.

"I was just my way over to you M-Caroline." I said, almost forgetting what we just had talked about. "The horses are done and ready to go. Are you done packing now?" I asked, and she nodded.

"I was just finished as well and was on my way to the rose garden so I could wait for you there." She said which made me frown in disapproval.

"But it's raining outside." I gestured around me to show my point, and felt how it started to fall harder.

"Yes, indeed it is." She said, knowing exactly what my point was, but avoided it happily. I sighed, and took her hand and began to drag her towards the door to the mansion, hurrying so the both of us wouldn't get more wet than we already were.

"Caroline, you shouldn't sit out in the rain, you'll get sick." My voice was practically sick of worry, and as we stepped into the hallway, we met one of the other servants: Jessica Stanley.

"Bella! Miss Gray! You both are soaking wet!" She gushed, and ran over to us, shooting me a glare before she looked at Caroline. She was right of course, and I looked down at my wet dress and sighed, knowing we would have to go upstairs and change our dresses which would delay us even more. Jessica disappeared into the kitchen and a few seconds later she reappeared with towels in her hands and ran towards us, concern showing on her face for Miss Caroline and small irritation that obviously was pointed towards me. She immediately began to dry Miss Caroline's shoulders in a lost attempt to make her at least a little bit dryer.

"Miss Stanley, It-" Caroline began to say, a reassuring but strained smile lingering on her lips, but Jessica interrupted her, not listening to a word she was saying.

"Oh dear, Miss will catch a cold in this state! And your skin; it's ice cold! How long did you stay outside?"She exclaimed, being on the verge of panicking completely.

"Miss Stanley, I can assure you-" She tried again, her voice that was somewhat calm before sounding even more strained, and a hint of irritation showed on her beautiful face.

"We will have to prepare you a bath! Surely it won't take long; we won't be that late to the ship. And Bella!" She turned her head to me, and her face twisted in anger. Jessica had never liked me, and I doubted that she ever would. To be honest, I didn't really care for her much. She was just another servant in my eyes, another person in the house who wanted the best for Miss Caroline. That's why I ignored her snappy comments she gave me time to time, and focused on the bright sides, even though the rarely appeared.

"How could you let her stand out in the rain for such a long time? Do you have any idea what could've happened if-"

"_Miss Stanley_." Caroline's voice was cold as ice as she spoke, and the volume of her words were no louder than before, maybe even lower. "Will you _please_ calm down? Bella has nothing to do with this; it was my own stupidity that brought this down on me. I can assure you that I'm fine; I'll just need to change to some attires that are not soaked inside and out." She said, and Jessica lowered her head in shame.

"Yes, Miss Gray." She replied in a low tone, and Caroline's mood changed instantly from being cold and irritate to the normal and happy self. She was rarely angry, but when her temper got the best of her, it was _really_ bad.

"Good. I think it's best if we hurry Bella; we wouldn't want to be late, would we?" she said, a peaceful smile creeping on her lips, and Jessica looked up at her. I stared at her too, and it took a few seconds before I regained the ability to speak.

"No, of course not. Certainly." Both of us hurried upstairs, and after half an hour, both of us had changed into dry clothes and when we walked together down the stairs we were once again met by Jessica, who was in a noticeably better mood, and Tyler Crowe, a male servant who enjoyed to flirt quite a lot, especially with me.

"Hello there ladies," Tyler said, winking at me as he did, which made me roll my eyes. "Miss Caroline." He said then in a more respectful and serious voice, and bowed down his head. Caroline giggled and smiled at him, finding him quite amusing whilst I ignored him completely.

"Hello there." She answered with a voice soft as silk. Then suddenly, she gracefully passed her servants and walked over to the window. She dragged away the heavy curtain from its place and stared out at the rain that still was pouring down from the sky. She leaned forward and looked up towards the sky and a grin began to play in the corner of her lips.

"Is...anything the matter, Miss Gray?" Jessica asked, frowning at the lady's odd behavior. Caroline straightened up and let go of the curtain and looked back at us, the satisfied grin turning into a full teeth smile, which by some strange reason made chills go down my spine and goose bumps develop on my skin.

"No, but thank you for your concern Miss Stanley." She retorted softly, and shook her head to herself. Then she sighed happily, and looked at me, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Are you ready to go Bella?" she asked, and I nodded.

"Yes."I answered, and Tyler cut in before I could say anything else.

"I've already placed all of your bags in the carriage." he told us, giving me a small wink again and Caroline clapped her hands together.

"Splendid!" Her joy was contagious to the rest of us, and I couldn't help but to smile back at her. She turned back to Tyler and Jessica, and her features became less energetic and a little more serious. "Miss Stanley, Mr. Crowe, please take good care of my house while we're gone."

"Yes Miss Gray." Both of them answered together in unison. Caroline smiled, and then she grabbed my hand and looked straight into my eyes.

"Well then," She said, her eyes sparkling with excitement. "I guess it's time for us to go." Then she grabbed my arm, and the two of us exited the house out into the rain and hurried into the carriage that would take us to the harbor.


	2. Discovery

**Chapter 2: Discovery **

"That is…a _big_ ship." I said, looking at the large metal construction that was in the harbor. She laughed softly with amusement at my astonishment, and took my hand and began to lead me towards the ship that floated upon the dark water. The voyage to the port had taken a very long time and the sun, which had been hiding behind the clouds all day, had made its escape from the sky and went down long before we had reached our destination. Caroline's mood brightened once the darkness was complete around us, and happily chattered with me through the trip, talking about how fun it was going to be once we were on the ship. I tried to put on a good face and agree that it would, but she saw through it instantly.

"_Bella," She had complained as we sat in the carriage, and pouted sourly. "Don't be so bitter, it's going to be fun, I promise." _

_I had grimaced and looked down in shame for lying in front of her. Then I took a deep breath, and sighed._

"_Alright, I'll try," I had looked up from my hands into her joyous eyes, and couldn't help but to smile at her excitement. "Sorry for coming along and bothering you." I had apologized, but she had just shaken her head and smiled back at me. _

"_You're not bothering me at all, and besides; if you had not come with me, this cruise would've been dreadful comparing to what it is now." She had said, and her kindness had warmed my heart._

Now when we stood here, I had a hard time changing my first opinion. The whole thing looked too …_luxurious. _Every time Miss Caroline tried to spoil me in any way, I politely refused. Such things made me feel at unease, and she always thought I acted silly whenever I didn't want to come with her to a fancy dinner or buy a pricey dress with some of her money. Even though she was my best friend, I was still her servant.

We stepped onboard the gigantic ship and I tried to see the ship clearly, but there was no light except the moon, which had made its way through the thick clouds. Caroline saw how I tried, and giggled at my failing attempt.

"It's alright; we have all day tomorrow to see the ship. For now, we should get back to our cabin; I bet you're exhausted after such a long trip."She said and without further warning, she took my hand and began to drag us inside the ship. Once inside, we were met by a male servant in my age, who smiled friendly at us.

"Hello, my name is Mike and I'll assist you on the coming week. Is there something you need?" he asked, and Miss Caroline nodded eagerly.

"We would like to go to our cabin, please."She said, her voice sweet as honey like always. The boy called Mike stared at me for a long time, and I wondered if he really had heard what she had said. But finally, after a few seconds of silence, he responded.

"C-Certainly. Y-Your names, please?"He asked her, stammering at first.

"I'm Caroline Gray and this is Isabella Swan." She told him, and he looked back at me. His strange behavior confused me utterly, and as our eyes met, a pink blush began to spread on his cheeks. He immediately looked away, and stared down at his papers in front of him.

"You're in cabin number 408. Would you like me to take you there?" he asked, some hope lingering in his voice. Caroline grinned at him, which he missed completely since he was staring at me, and then giggled.

"Yes please, that would be very nice." She said, and he immediately began to lead the way towards our room whilst chattering happily with me and explaining everything we stumbled upon as we went there. As we walked through the large ship we passed several people, and as we did, they all stared at me with bewilderment and small irritation. At first I thought I was fooling myself and making it all up, but as the time went, the more I began to think I was wrong. They all looked at Miss Caroline with respect and admiration, but the second they saw me, their facial expressions changed, and some of them even looked disgusted. One thing was anyways clear: They did not approve of me. All of them were beautiful and pale, and they all reminded me somewhat of Miss Caroline in a way…

"Here you are, ladies."Mike said, and pointed at the double doors in front of us. "Remember that if you need anything at all, just call and I'll get it for you."He said, looking mostly at me as he said so. Caroline smiled, and nodded, which he didn't see.

"I can assure you that we will. Thank you." Then she opened the door and dragged me inside, closing it quickly before Mike could say anything else. The second it was closed, she burst out laughing, and I stared at her in confusion.

"Is there anything funny?" I asked her, and she nodded eagerly, her face alit with amusement and joy.

"Did you even pay attention as we walked over here? That boy has fallen head over heels for you!"She exclaimed, and her sudden accusation made me blush in embarrassment.

"Miss Caroline! To suggest such thing! I assure you that you're mistaken." I exclaimed, my cheeks blushing, and she raised one of her eyebrows skeptically at me.

"Really?"She said, and then giggled. "So he wasn't staring admiringly at you the majority of the time?"She asked, and my blush increased. I still didn't believe her, but I had to admit that he _did _stare at me a lot, but I believed that he did so for other reasons, not romantic ones.

"I still believe you're wrong." I mumbled, and she laughed at me. I shook my head to myself, and then turned around. Shock and astonishment hit me hard, and I gasped at the amazing scene in front of me.

"You like it?" Caroline asked as she skipped into the room, looking more like a child than ever. I was too enchanted by the breathtaking room to answer. I would call it a suite instead of a cabin. The walls were white, and several paintings decorated them nicely. In the middle of a room stood a low glass table, surrounded by 6 chairs embedded with red velvet. In the ceiling a crystal chandelier hung, electrical lamps replacing the original candles' place. In the south end of the room there was a lovely fireplace that was glowing by the fire that was burning inside of it. Several vases with flowers were placed in different parts of the room, and the smell of them made it very pleasant. The window that was leading out to the dark sea was complemented with heavy curtains similar to the ones Miss Caroline had at home.

And this was just the _lounge_.

"It's…amazing! How can you even have such a room onboard a ship?" I asked, and she giggled again.

"Let us view the rest of the cabin."She said, and took my hand and then we both began to explore the rest of our cabin.

***Later***

"Are you sure you will be alright?" I asked once again, and she smiled back at me despite her fatigue.

"I'm sure, I promise you. You should get back to your room and get a good night's sleep yourself."The worry she had for me was well heard in her concerned voice, and I smiled back at her, glad that she cared for me.

"I will. Goodnight Miss Caroline." I said before I closed the door, and just before it was completely shut I heard her respond quietly.

"Goodnight Bella."

I walked back to my room, which was to my despair as luxurious as Miss Caroline's room, and closed the door shut. I changed to my nightgown, and slowly crawled down into my bed in the almost complete darkness of the room. It didn't take long for sleep to find me, and soon I was deep under.

_***Dream***_

_I walked through the forest, skipping almost, and giggled in joy._

"_Mamma! Mamma, look!" I exclaimed, and pointed at something in the distance, and then looked at my mother. No matter how hard I tried to look, her face was a blur of foggy mist, preventing me from seeing her actual features. She smiled, and walked over to me and then lifted me up in her arms. That's when I realized how small I was. She lifted me up into her arms, and hugged me tightly to her chest._

"_Bella…" A male voice called, and my mother released me from her arms and then together we walked towards the man who had called my name. His face was blurred as well, but even though, I still knew who it was, hiding beneath it._

"_Papa!" I called, my voice shrilling with happiness. He smiled, and my mother released my hand she was holding so I could run the last few meters to him. He caught me before I could hug him like I always used to, and lifted me up in the air. I screamed with joy, and laughed as he spun around with me in the air. _

"_Charlie, give the girl some rest; she'll get sick if you continue like that!" Mamma scolded him, and he grinned and put me down on the ground. I complained at the sudden end of our game, and he patted my head soothingly._

"_Don't worry my daughter, we'll continue this another time, I promise you." He said, and my mood instantly lightened up. _

"_Thank you papa!" I said, and hugged him a little bit tighter before running of towards the small meadow ahead of us. My goal was the beautiful flowers that grew in a tight bunch in the beginning of the small field. As I reached my destination, I stretched my hand down and pluck one of the lilac flowers and brought it up to my face. I carefully sniffed it, and giggled as I found the scent delightful. I turned around and was just about to call for my parents to come and smell it too, when I saw the horrible scene in front of me. _

_A few meters away from me, my parents lay on the ground, their lifeless eyes staring into nothing. Blood escaped from the wounds in them, and wetted the ground. There, hunched over my mother, a monster stood. He lowered his head, and bit deep into her neck, sucking the blood out of my mother's lifeless body._

_I gasped in horror, and backed away. "No…" I whimpered. The monster snapped his head up, and his demon red eyes stared directly into mine. His pale skin made him look awfully ghostlike, and he rose slowly from my mother and stood up. His mouth was all smeared with blood, and as he began to walk towards me, he smiled a cruel, wicked smile…_

_***End of dream***_

I woke up with a shriek, sweating and breathing hard. It took a long time before I could breathe properly, and after a few deep breaths, my racing heart began to slow itself down. That exact dream have haunted me ever since I was a small child, creeping up on me when I least expected it and sometimes followed me for weeks. The blurring persons –my parents –always smiled and we were having fun; sometimes the context was different, but the ending was always the same; that red eyed demon coming and sucking the life out of my loving parents. Truth to be told, I hardly remember them anymore. Their voices, that used to be clear as bells in my memory, now remained as vague whispers in a clouded recall.

I got up on my shaky legs, and lit up a candle, making the room glow in the small light it gave. I got dressed in some simple clothing, and then exited the room, taking the candle with me. I had to get out and get some air; the oxygen in the room didn't just seem to be enough. I tip-toed passed Miss Caroline's room and as quietly as I could, opened the door to our cabin and closed it shut behind me. The corridors were alit with dim lights of the lamps hanging on the walls, and I was more than glad to have the candle with me for additional brightness. I tried to remember the way we walked to our room and tried my best on finding my way out.

Finally, after several minutes of wandering about, I found the door that led to the darkness outside. Relief filled my heart, and I gladly opened the door that led to the dark deck. As soon as I came outside, the wind blew out my candle in one sweeping motion, leaving me to wander alone in the dark. I continued my small walk in the night, and took many deep breaths to make the appalling feeling from the dream to go away. The night had a very calming effect on me, and I stopped to look over the railing. The waves roared beside the ship, and I watched in awe as they hit it time after time, water splashing in the progress. But after some time, the cold wind made goose bumps spread over my bare arms, and I began to turn around when suddenly, a man had appeared. I gasped and jumped in shock for his sudden appearance, dropping the candle I held in surprise, and gripped the railing in support.

"Dear lord, you scared me!" I exclaimed in a breathless voice. The calming effect that had finally reached me was gone, and my heart was once again racing. The man watched me silently, and for some reason, chills crept down my back, but it wasn't because of the cold. His dark, red eyes stared into mine, and there was something about him that made my blood freeze to ice. I saw how he licked his lip hungrily, and a wicked smile crept on his lips. He began to take small steps towards me, and the more close he got, the more distance I wanted to make between us.

"Lady Caroline specifically said we we're not to hurt you, but…" He said in a dark tone that made me want to scream in fear, and then closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He then reopened them, and this time his eyes contained some kind of animalism that wasn't there before. "That rule will just have to be broken, considering how good you smell tonight." His words scared me, and at that moment, I only knew one thing certainly; I had to run if I wanted to survive.

I bolted left as fast as I could, and ran with all my might away from the frightening man I had just met, but all I had to do was blink, and he appeared in front of me once again like he had used some sort of telepathy to get there. He stood there with his arms crossed, noticeably amused, and I stopped dead in my tracks. I shrieked in fear, being to breathless to scream, and turned to run the way I came from, but he was there once again. He laughed and then- in a motion too fast to see - hit me in my chest, sending me flying to the ground. I whimpered in pain as my head hit the hard floor, and felt how tears –of fright and pain –ran down my cheeks.

He began to walk over to me where I laid, when a sudden blur of movement appeared, sending him to the ground as well. The scary man quickly rose, and hissed at his foe. His opponent, who appeared to be a man as well, growled back at him, and then in one quick motion reached his hands around his neck and twitched, a sickening crack echoing through the air. Blood splattered me from a wound that had appeared in his neck and the body of the scary man went limp and fell to the ground, his eyes going blank. I stared in horror at the scene before me. The unknown man turned around, and our eyes met. His godlike face was twisted in an angered expression, his dark eyes glared murderously at me, and the small relief I had felt for being saved from the other horrible demon vanished in a second. The man seemed to be my age, maybe a little bit older, and despite the fear he brought upon me, I found him absolutely beautiful. His eyes were dark as the night, glaring at me, and despite the bad lighting I noticed that his hair was reddish-brown. Seconds passed, and all he did was to stare at me. Being too scared to move, I stayed in my position, unmoving. Suddenly, a very familiar voice shrilled through the air, making me turn and gasp in surprise.

"If you value your life Mr. Cullen, I suggest you get out of here; _now_." Caroline hissed.

**A/N: Hi guys! I hope you've had a wonderful 2010, and I **_**really**_** hope you'll have a fantastic 2011 :D  
Please review :)**


	3. A Night To Remember

**A/N: Hi! Thank you so much ****twirob, wolfgirlrules, Sweetie7smiled, vivx-chan & barbeegurl for ****commenting on the last two chapters, I really appreciate it :D Here's the third chapter, I hope you all like it!  
Disclaimer: I don't own twilight, SM does :P**

**Chapter 3: A Night To Remember**

After …_that_ happened, Miss Caroline asked me to follow her back to our room, telling me it wasn't safe to stay. The pure anger that was ringing in her voice before had disappeared completely, but I was still very baffled. The beautiful man who had saved me from the vampire who had tried to kill me had in a blink of an eye disappeared into thin air, and no matter which direction I looked in he was not to be found. When the shock finally released me a little and allowed me to move, Miss Caroline and I swiftly walked back to our cabin, not uttering a word to each other on the way. I was walking very far away from her at first, but when she warned me that others might come, I got a little closer to her (still having a small distant between us though). Once inside, she dismissed all servants, asking them to leave us for the rest of the night.

She turned to look at me, and I flinched in fear. I may not be the most intelligent person on earth, but I _knew_ that something wasn't right with her. She wasn't human, and neither were those men I had seen on the deck. Caroline frowned at me, and even though I recoiled from her touch, she grabbed the arm of my dress.

"Disgusting." She said, her voice once again filled with that darkness I had witnessed at the deck, and when I looked down to see what she was talking about, I noticed it was the blood that I had been splattered with. "He still had human blood in his system when he attacked you… He must've fed right before he met you and still he tried to…" her gaze became hard, and a fear I never had felt anywhere near Miss Caroline began to creep underneath my skin.

"You should change your clothes." She stated suddenly, and I didn't have to be told twice. I snatched my arm back from her hold, and then quickly escaped to my room. I closed the door as soon as I got inside, and without a warning, my knees collapsed underneath me. My hand shook as I looked at the arm of my dress, and her words echoed in my mind repeatedly. _He still had human blood in his system as he attacked you…_

The sudden thought of that I was having another humans blood on me was unbearably nauseating, and I almost ripped off the dress from my body, tossing it on the ground. I rose to my feet as fast as I could, and then ran to the bathroom that I had been provided with and looked at myself in the mirror. 5 small yet noticeably drops of blood rested on my face, and the nausea I had felt before increased. Frenetically, I began to wash off my face, drowning it in water and soap.

After I had washed off all evidence of blood on my body, I walked back to my bedroom and grabbed the first thing I saw that I could wear, which was my nightgown. The long, white fabric almost hit the ground, and with a deep breath, I exited the room. I had tried not to think about what had happened earlier this night as I had washed myself up, but now, questions and wonders poured into my mind. I wanted answers, and I wanted them _now_.

"Here, sit down." Caroline said with a friendly smile and patted at the seat next to her. When I didn't move, she sighed and stood up from her seat, a small frown finding its place on her perfectly beautiful face. "I understand why you don't trust me; it must be hard to deal with such awful things all in one night. But I want you to know that I will _never _hurt you, no matter what happens." Her yellow eyes watched me in the darkness, and after a few seconds of thought, I decided to sit down in a chair positioned as far away from her as the room allowed. She sighed and shook her head to herself whilst smiling slightly, probably thinking I was silly. _I _didn't think I was silly.

"…I don't understand…_what_ was he? What are _you_?" I cried out as I stared at her with fright. Sweet, loving Caroline… was she really...a monster? Like the terrifying monsters I have been dreaming about? Like the one who just tried to kill me?

She sighed and sat down again, looking a little bit sad. "I was planning to tell you, but not like this. I wanted to prepare you for it and not startle and scare you like this; I always thought you would resent me if you knew. But since I have no other choice, I guess I will have to tell you…" she trailed off, staring at her pale hands in her lap.

"I'm…" she took another deep breath, and then looked up, meeting my gaze. "I'm a vampire."

As soon as the words were out, my blood froze to ice. I stared at her with wide eyes, and my first reaction to this was to run, but my legs wouldn't move. She was a vampire, a bloodsucking creature that stalked its prey in the night? Her? She was the most caring person in the world, how could she be such a horrifying creature?

"That's …not…possible." I continued to stare and she scoffed at my words and smiled without humor, staring at nothing.

"But it is. I'm a vampire, and the man who tried to kill you was also one. In fact, the majority of the people on this boat are vampires."

Shock jolted through my body. My mouth opened and formed a small 'o', and my muscles tensed uncomfortably. Her words echoed through my head over and over again, creating more and more questions in my mind. Caroline… She, the woman I trusted the most in the whole world…she feasted on humans. I was her prey, and she was a predator.

"Did…did you bring me here to kill me?" I was surprised how calmly I spoke the words, discussing my own death. Caroline's wry smile dropped, and her eyes widened in shock.

"What? How can you even suggest such a thing? I would _never, ever_, hurt you Isabella Marie Swan!" I frowned at her, and her sincere promise made me confused.

"But…if you're not going to kill me, what am I doing here? Why did you take me into your home when my parents died to begin with?"

She stared back at me with the same shocked expression as before, but I thought I detected a hint of sadness in those butterscotch eyes of her.

"Bella…" she said, uttering my name in a sad plea, and I realized my words had hurt her more than I realized. For some strange reason, that made me worried and sad as well. I tried to shake the feeling off, but it wouldn't go away. Even though I was scared for my life, scared of her, I still _cared_ for her. I must be crazy, worrying for a vampire when I should be worried for my own life…

"I'm still me. Even though I'm a vampire, I'm still the same person you know so well."

I shook my head in disagreement. "How can you be remotely close to the person I thought I knew? Vampires…they drink blood! They feed on _humans_! The Caroline _I_ knew would _never_ do that."

A ghost of a smile flickered in the edge of her lips, and she shook her head. "But I _don't_ feed on humans. I never have and if things go as I intend, I never will. I hunt animals." She stared at me for a while, waiting for me to say something, but no words exited my mouth. I was too dazed to even attempt to speak. She said she was a vampire, a creature of evil and the night. But then she _also_ claimed to hunt only animals, and not humans…

Caroline played with a strand of her dark red hair that had escaped its place from her messy hair arrangement, and when I didn't say anything, she continued. "I understand that you are confused and scared, but I'll _try_ to explain this as non-frightening as I can. Us vampires have to feed on blood to survive. The majority of vampires in the world feed on humans, but there are a few vampires –vampires like me –that feed on animals. It's not as … satisfying as human blood is, but it's enough to keep us alive, or whatever we are. Those who feed on animals have golden eyes and those who feed on humans have red, but all vampires eyes darken when we get…thirsty." She hesitated with the word, and looked up at me to see how I would react. I tried to look as unbothered as possible, but I couldn't help but to shiver at the frightening information. I hoped what she was telling me was true, because _her _eyes were reassuringly bright yellow, and I couldn't detect any hint of red or darkness of them.

"Once a human become a vampire," she continued, "there are a lot of things that changes. All of our senses are better than yours, and all of us are astoundingly fast and strong. We get much colder and paler as well, none of us can sleep or eat, and breathing is not necessary to any of us – we just do it out of habit. We can't age either; all vampires are immortal. Once we have changed by the venom of another vampire, we sort of freeze in growth, and then we stay like that forever."

I had been listening intriguingly with fear still clinging on to me, but when she mentioned that she could not age, I was _very_ confused.

"But… I've been by your side since I was a child. You…you aged _with_ me; I remember it. When you were ten and I was seven and my parents died… you were a child! How can you claim that none of you age when I've witnessed it with my own eyes!"

Her eyes stared back at me gently, and a small reassuring smile appeared on her lips. "I was getting to that part. You know my parents, Smith and Wilma? They …weren't actually my parents. They were vampires as well, two dear friends of mine, and I had let them stay with me during the time you grew up, thinking it was good to let you think I had parents. Smith, who claimed to be Mr. Gray, had a special gift."

"What do you mean?"

"Some vampires have certain _abilities_ that others has not. They can do unique things, _supernatural_ things. Smith has such a gift, and can compel anyone into thinking anything he wants. As he stayed with us through the years, he made you remember me as a child, aging slowly as you did.

"But 5 years ago, when you were thirteen, both Wilma and Smith had to leave us. Since Smith was leaving, and he couldn't compel you anymore, we had to come up with an excuse to tell you why I wasn't able to go out when the sun was out. So we decided to compel you into believing that I had very sensitive skin that could not be exposed to sunlight and that I often got sick. Truth is that I'm not sick at all; sun doesn't actually bother me, but if I _did _expose myself in sunlight, you would know I was different."

"How?" I asked, surprised she didn't tell me that she would burn into ashes the second her skin would connect with the beams of sunlight.

"I…I sparkle. It's very eerie the first time you see it. I was very amazed and scared at the same time the first time I saw it."

I stared at her, and imagined how it would look, having your skin glittering like you had diamonds in your skin every time you entered the sunlight… it was hard to see Miss Caroline like that, all alien like and shiny.

Caroline sighed, and then looked towards the window, staring into the darkness with a lamented look in her eyes.

"But as I said, Smith and Wilma left us and decided to join the Volturi."

"The what?" I frowned.

"The Volturi. They're a high ranked and powerful …organization or family I guess you could call it, that keeps the peace in the vampire world. They make sure that vampires feed on either humans or animals do it inconspicuously and don't get discovered by humans. They have many rules, but the most important rule is not to expose what we are and those who don't obey get punished. Sometimes they even kill the person, but that would be in special cases."

My stomach twisted inside, and I began to feel nauseous. Caroline must've seen the change in my face, and looked at me with a concerned look.

"Bella, are you okay? You look pale. Do you want me to fetch a glass of wate-" I didn't let her finish her sentence, and probably for the first time in my life, I interrupted her voice and spoke in a agitated tone.

"They will _punish_ anyone who do not obey the rule? But Miss! I _know_ now! You've just told me about vampires and their abilities! They could kill us if they find out about it!"

Caroline stared at me for a short moment with wide eyes, like she was surprised by my words, and then she _smiled_. "You're absolutely adorable when you're worried, you know that?"

I rose from my seat despite of the fear I had felt before, and ran over to her, kneeling in front of her and taking her hand. "What? How can you say something absurd as that in a situation like this! They could kill you Miss!"

Her smile grew to my confusion, and her pale, cold hand placed itself over mine and stroked it gently. "I understand your concern for us and I thank you for that, but there is no need to worry. The Volturi already know that you're in my custody and that I had probably already told you everything, but punishing any of us would never come to their mind. They wouldn't _dare_."

My frown deepened at her last sentence, and confusion overwhelmed the fear I felt. Weren't they powerful? If they already knew that she had told me, why would they not punish us if that were one of their most important rules?

Caroline saw the confusion in my face, and gave me a small smile as she continued to explain. "Newborns, which is the term for newly created vampires, are much stronger physically, since their human blood still lingers in their system. After a year though, their strength weakens and they become as strong as any usual vampire, and then they stay that strong the rest of their existence, which is forever. But gifts like Smith's… they get stronger as the years pass. The older a vampire is, the stronger is their gift, if they have one so to speak. I have a gift as well, and since I've existed for such a long time…it's stronger than most vampires' gifts are."

I stared at her, and her slowly, her words registered in my mind. '_And since I've existed for such a long time…it's stronger than most vampires' gifts are…'. _

"How old are you?" Truth to be told, I was actually slightly afraid to hear the answer, but this was something I _had_ to know, scared or not.

Her butterscotch eyes looked back at me cautiously, and after a few seconds of hesitance, she finally spoke. "I was 21 the day I changed…and that was nearly 800 years ago."

I knew she felt how my hands stiffened in her grip. I tried to control the fear that came creeping, worsening by the second, but it was impossible. She…she had lived for nearly _800_ years.

The world around me began to blur, and in a fast motion, too fast for me to see what even happened, I was transported from the place on the floor I had been kneeling on, to the soft and spacious couch that was placed in the east side of the room, several meters away from the place I was before. Caroline's hands were cradled around me, and after a few seconds I realized that _she _had been the one who brought me there, using the superhuman speed that she had told me about that all vampires had.

Caroline giggled –a soft and pleasant sound –and I gasped for air, trying to make the black spots in my vision to go away together with the lightheaded feeling.

"Silly Bella; you faint even before I've told you the big part!"

The world still spun a little, but I was still able to speak. "Is the fact that you're a 800 year old vampire _not_ the big part? What can possible be bigger than that?"

Her grin turned into a sly smile, and then she turned her head into a different direction and stared at the fireplace. I followed her gaze, and what I saw amazed me as much as it brought goose bumps to my skin.

The crystal jug of water began suddenly –with no one touching it –to float into the air. It hovered in the same place for several seconds, rocking very, very slightly as it did. Out of nowhere, a glass of water appeared, sailing through the air like the gravity had stopped existing, and then the jug proceeded to pour the water to the glass, both of the objects still soaring in the middle of the air. Once it was full, the jug slowly sank back to its original place on the small table by the two chairs, and the glass flew into our direction in a quick speed yet it was still careful not to spill anything on the expensive carpet. Caroline grabbed the glass from the air once it was in her range, and carefully held it down to me.

"Thirsty?" she offered, but I didn't take the glass from her. I studied the glass carefully, wondering if my eyes had fooled me, and then looked back at Caroline. She laughed at my face that must've been beyond confused, and once I found my lips, I spoke.

"H-H-H-How did you do that? That glass just…and the water…" I stuttered, the words practically falling out of my mouth, making my questions sound like gibberish. Fortunately, Caroline knew what I was asking, and answered me in a calm voice.

"It is my gift. I could've simply told you about it, but showing you would be more…_vivid_."

She was half right about that. Showing me absolutely showed me that it was real but…but I had hard to believe that anything was real anymore. Maybe all of this was a dream…

Caroline placed the glass of water on the table next to her, and then brought me to her side so I was cradled in her arms. Maybe I should've been frightened, staying inside of that rock solid cage her arms formed around me, but there was something about her presence in the moment that made me extraordinary calm.

"I have the ability to move anything with my mind without touching it. Some call it telekinesis, but the name only developed during the later years, when illusionists claimed that they had such gift. All bunch of lairs they were." She scoffed, looking like she was almost offended by the claim some magicians had made.

"Anyhow, my gift was simple at first. I could preform such easy tricks as now, but-" My curiosity got the best of me, and I interrupted her once again this night in a startled voice.

"_That _was _easy_?" I exclaimed, and she laughed at my absolute astonishment.

"Yes Bella, making a water vessel soar in the air is easy. But as the years passed by, I discovered that my gift had so much more to offer than just fetching me books and arranging some roses in a vase. I discovered that my ability I was given could also be used as a weapon; a very, _very_ powerful weapon." I stayed quiet, waiting for her to continue, but she remained still, not uttering a word. I turned in my seat to see her face, and my eyes were met by an uncertain look.

"What is the matter?" I asked, her concerned look making me worried, but she patted me reassuringly, and gave me a sad smile.

"I just don't want my Bella to be frightened of me. Well, at least not more frightened of me than you already are."

"I am not frightened." I told her, my response coming quickly to my mouth, and I knew that there was some truth in my words, but also some untruth. There was still some fear crawling underneath my skin that refused to go away, no matter how much I wished for it.

Even though the room was rather dark, I could see her clearly. She smiled sweetly at me, sadness still lingering in her eyes and touched my cheek with her cold hand. "But you will be if I tell you."

"No I won't." I said, and she laughed softly at me.

"You are so stubborn." She said, and I don't know if she was talking to me or to herself (probably a combination between the two), and then she sighed in defeat.

"Alright, I guess there is no harm telling you. The damage is done already, nonetheless." She removed her hand from me, and then she stared at the glass of water on the table. The glass once again began to hover and in a swift motion, it flew away from us until it was in the middle of the room, still in view to us but in a much safer distance. Suddenly, the glass began to break, cracks spreading all over the thing. In a blink on an eye, the glass suddenly shattered like an explosion and pieces of glass began to soar in a cluster around the water that still stayed compact, having the same shape it had in the glass.

"Unbelievable…" I whispered to myself, and watched in awe as the tiny glass pieces swirled in slow motion in the air, sparkling slightly in the low light. As sudden as they had separated, they suddenly fell towards the ground together with the fluid, and the water splashed against the carpet, creating a small pool of wetness on the ground. Caroline stared at the scene she had created grimly, and then spoke in a small voice, barely audible.

"That was just a glass of water. Imagine that it was a human or a vampire. I can easily remove anything for someone's inside without lifting a finger. That's how powerful I am. That's why no vampire dares to oppose me. And it doesn't only apply to only one object." As she had spoken, suddenly everything in the room began to fly. Books and papers from the bookcase, flowers and vases from the small tables around the room, pillows and candles… _everything _was in the air, defying gravity. Just like the glass, suddenly the objects the defied gravity destroyed, still hanging around in the air, and I stared at the amazing scene in front of me with my heart in my throat. Everything was so exciting, but at the same time…frightening. Caroline was right when she said I would be afraid; I _was_. But to see something so incredible in front of my eyes… It was absolutely astonishing.

"You are free to leave." She suddenly said. I turned my head to look at her, and her sad eyes stared back at her. "You don't have to stay at my side anymore; I understand if you want to go."

I frowned at her absurd words, and felt like someone just had punched me in the gut. _Leave_? "Why would I want to go?"

Caroline laughed –a sound completely without humor. "Bella, you have seen what I am. You have seen what are kind can do." The image of the vampire that had tried to kill me on the deck appeared, and I quickly tried to shake it off. _No_, _Caroline would never do such a thing…_

"But they are not you! You said it yourself; you would never, ever hurt me!"

Her eyes that watched me became hard, and the sincerity in her voice was very hard to miss. "And I meant _every single word_ of what I said. But _others_ of my kind might want to hurt you. Like with your parents…" she trailed off, and the firmness in her eyes golden eyes disappeared and grief replaced it.

I stared at her with a frown on my face, and the dream I had dreamt so many times during the years came into my head. _The monster snapped his head up, and his demon red eyes stared directly into mine. His pale skin made him look awfully ghostlike, and he rose slowly from my mother and stood up. His mouth was all smeared with blood, and as he began to walk towards me, he smiled a cruel, wicked smile…_

Was…was the dream true? Had my parents truly been killed by a vampire?

"But…But they died in a fire…" I murmured, remembering vaguely how Mr. and Mrs. Gray had come to me with solemn faces and told me how they had gotten trapped in a shop that caught fire whilst visiting the town.

"Smith compelled you into thinking so. In reality, a stray vampire that had gone mad by thirst murdered them. All three of you were out for a walk in the woods when it happened. Smith, Wilma and I were able to get there before he could even lay a hand on you, and then together we killed him so he wouldn't hurt anyone else."

Her words were frightening, but in some way I had always known that was the truth. Ever since I began to have the same dream over and over again how my parents were killed, I began to wonder if the fire really had happened. The dream –which apparently was a memory –felt so real, much more real than the story about the fire. But I never told the others about my dreams and questions. I just accepted their words and continued having the nightmares.

After a few minutes of silence, Caroline finally spoke. "Do you understand what I mean when I'm saying we're dangerous? I'm giving you a choice here. You don't have to continue to live with me if you don't want to; you can jut go now and never look back. The Volturi would never lay a hand on you, I promise."

I stared at her with questioning eyes, and I could see that it saddened her to say this. Why would she want me to go when it made her sad? "But…" my voice was so low it as almost audibly, but the look she gave me told me that she heard me perfectly. "But what if I don't want to go? I _want _to stay with you. Everything you've told me _are_ quite frightening Miss, I won't deny that. But if what you've told me is true…then I would not like to part from you. You're still the Caroline I've come to know and love; nothing will change that part of you, even though you are in fact a terrible little monster."

An overjoyed smile entered her lips, and before I knew it, Miss Caroline attacked me with a powerful hug. She squealed happily, and I couldn't help but to laugh at her sudden act.

"I am _so_ happy you want to stay with me! If you'd said you wanted to go…that would've just been awful. Besides, I think the captain would've gotten a little cross with us if I told him we needed to turn around on such a short notice."

"Then why did you ask me to go?" I asked confused, barely managing to breathe in her steel grip.

Her smile turned gentle, and she leaned her head onto my shoulder. "I couldn't force you to stay, could I? Besides, I wanted to make sure that you didn't stay out of obligation, but because you actually wanted to."

I smiled back at her, and was just about to say something, when Caroline suddenly stood up. I had almost forgotten about all of the floating objects above are heads and the sight of them, shredded and destroyed in the air was just as eerie as it was fascinating. Caroline glanced around the room, and then, all destroyed objects placed themselves in a large sheet that had appeared on the floor. When everything was there, the sheet tied the ends together and then placed itself on the ground, making a large bundle of destroyed objects.

"I'll tell the servants to take care of that tomorrow." When the word 'servants' came to her lips, I suddenly remember Mike, the boy we had met just as we came onboard. His eyes...they had been neither red nor golden but instead blue, and he was not at all pale as the vampires had been on the boat. He was human…

"But Miss, what about the servants on the boat? They're human! If there are vampires on this boat that feed on humans and not animals…then they're in danger!" I exclaimed. She stared at me for a few seconds, her expression thoughtful, and then she smiled. _Smiled. _Miss had really developed a bad habit, smiling when the situation was deadly serious.

"You should not worry about the others, Bella. The humans on this boat are safe; they are only 25 or so. We have vampire guards that are all around the boat, making sure that everything is safe for everyone, and they _have_ blood supplies here; blood bags, both with human and animal blood."

My heart rate calmed down a bit now that knew that they weren't going to kill Mike or any other human onboard, but one question still lingered in my head.

"But…do they know? Do they know what you are and the risks they're putting themselves through by being here?" I asked, and she nodded.

"They know everything. Most of them come with the hope of getting turned. Others are just here out of curiosity. But yes, they're all aware of the situation." The revelation made my body relax a little more. I was glad that no one was forced into this without knowing what it was. That people wanted to become vampires was still a small wonder to me, but I guess that if immortality were on the table, people would do anything to get it.

I was about to say something else when a big yawn escaped my mouth involuntarily, and Caroline giggled.

"You should probably get back to sleep, it's late. Or early; it depends on how you see it." She smiled, and I smiled a tired smile back. I _was_ tired. Exhausted actually. All the shock and fear that I had been put through during the night had drained all the energy from me.

"I should, but what about you? What will you do?" her revelation that she could not sleep had been another surprise to me, and curiosity crawled under my skin. What did she do with all this time?

She smiled, and grabbed my hand and began to lead me towards my bedroom. "It's just a few hours before sunrise, so I thought I would go and arrange a few things with a few important people onboard. Don't worry though; you'll be safe." She said, winking at the last part, and I laughed, but my fatigue made it sound more like a scoff. Caroline helped me to my bed, and the second my head hit the pillows, I had to fight to stay awake to hear Caroline's last words to me before she left me to my sleep.

"Goodnight, Bella. Sleep well." She closed the door, and all I had to do was close my eyes to fall into unconsciousness where the dreams awaited me.


	4. A Surprise TeaParty

**A/N: Hi guys! Thank you ****twirob**** for reviewing on the last chapter, it really makes my day :D**

**Here's the 4****th**** chapter of All Is Fair in Love And War, I hope you all enjoy it!**

**Chapter 4: A surprise tea-party**

The entire night, my sleep was disturbed by horrible dreams. No matter what the dream was about, red, hungry eyes stared back at me in the darkness, and the horrible creature laughed and growled in delight as it saw the fear in me…

As I woke up in the morning, I was gasping for air, sweating uncomfortably in the sheets of my bed. Light trickled through the small crack the heavy curtain provided, and I stared at the rays of light for a few minutes while I took deep, slow breaths to calm down my heart rate to a more normal phase. The place I had hit my head last night ached more than before, and softly I touched the place where the vampire had hurt me.

Vampire…I was handling the fact that I knew that the majority of the passengers were vampires very well. _Too _well, in fact. I thought that if I'd sleep on it, I might be able to wake up and freak out a little; react like you _should _do. But no, I was actually feeling even calmer than before, and in a strange way…I actually felt a little curious about it as well. I wanted to find out more about vampires, what they could do, what they were like…

I heard a small knock on the door, and after one second had passed, a small head peeked in and looked at me. "Miss…?" The human servant gazed at me shyly, not knowing if she had disturbed me in my sleep, and I sat up in my bed, feeling a little bit awkward. Usually, _I_ was the one who would come and wake people up, not the other way around.

"Yes?" I blushed at her, and my reaction made her look very flustered.

"I can come back-" she said, and was just about to turn around, but then she yelped in surprise and as the door opened further, Caroline's grinning face revealed itself.

"Nonsense. It's way passed noon already; the girl has to come up and play now or I'll become utterly bored." She said, a small frown puckering on her face, but I saw that she was teasing.

"Miss Caroline!" The female servant and I gasped together, and if I felt awkward before, I felt completely embarrassed now. "Why did you not wake me up if it is passed noon!" I exclaimed, horrified, and she laughed at me, skipping into my room and jumped down on my bed while she gracefully avoided the light that shone in.

"Because I thought you needed some time to sleep after last night's adventure. Besides, since the whole ship is awake around the clock, time doesn't really matter." She said with a shrug, and her carefreeness made it almost seem like last night hadn't happened at all. Miss Caroline turned towards the young female servant, and smiled.

"I'll get it from here. You may leave." The girl didn't ask twice at Caroline's request, and disappeared out of the room swiftly, closing the door after her as she went. Caroline turned back to me, and she gestured towards the luxurious bathroom at my left.

"A bath has been prepared and while you're inside I'll bring out something for you to wear. The clothes that you brought with you are awfully dull." She said with a disapproving frown, and I held back the urge to groan.

"Miss, I can dress myself. And they're not all dull." I added defensively. My dresses weren't that dull in reality, not for a servant at least. But since I wasn't on this cruise as a servant…then yes, they may have been a little dull. But if Caroline could choose, I would be overdressed for every occasion ahead of me. Sometimes, she really saw me as one of her little puppets to play with…

She sighed, and shook her head. "Well, they are for this. A dear friend of mine, Alice Cullen, invited me too meet her family and she urged me to take you with me. She _really_ wants to meet you. She can already see you befriend her _and_ the rest of her family. It will be _really_ fun, I promise."

I froze in my position as I sat upright in my queen-sized bed. Cullen… That was what she had called the other vampire last night that had saved me from the other mad vampire. His beautiful features, belonging more to a god than the face of a man was twisted in pure rage, and those dark eyes glared at me furiously in the night… _'If you value your life Mr. Cullen, I suggest you get out of here; __now__.' _Caroline had hissed at him. Was I supposed to meet _that_ man again?

Caroline hadn't realized my fear, which probably was written all over my face, and continued to babble on, looking at everything except me. "The Cullen's are 'vegetarians' like I am, and all of them are really charming. You meet one of them last night; Edward, her brother." Finally, her eyes met mine, and her gentle, happy face turned shocked and confused.

"Bella! What is the matter?" she exclaimed, and grabbed both of my shoulders with her tiny yet firm hands.

"I…Edward…he didn't seem to like me very much. I thought he was going to kill me." I confessed, looking down at my shaking hands in my lap and before I knew it Caroline enfolded me into a hug, pressing me to her cold, hard body.

"I would _never_ allow that to happen and you know that. He didn't want to hurt you at all. Edward can… he can hear thoughts. He caught the other vampire's thoughts and hurried over there to make sure you wouldn't get hurt. But when he got there…" she trailed off, and I sensed that there was something she wasn't telling me.

"What?"

She hesitated before answering, and broke off the hug to look into my eyes. "In the vampire world, all people smell different. Everyone has a different liking, but sometimes, there's humans who smell particularly… yummy." Her choice of words was obviously to lighten up my mood, but it was a lost attempt. She sighed and continued, a little more serious this time. "Those humans, they're very rare. The way you smell to Edward…it's like the smell of all the delicious food you can think of, all stored inside this fragile body of yours. In Italian, you're his_ cantante, _which means that you're his singer since your blood sings for him. I already knew that you had sweet smelling blood; I've noticed it since you were a child. But to him, you smell at least 5 times as good."

I stared at her with wide eyes, and suddenly, his behavior made…well at leas a little bit more sense. "Then, why did he look so mad…?" I trailed off, remembering the murderous look he had given me.

Caroline laughed a small, gentle laugh, and rose from the bed. "Because he was trying not to kill you, silly. You smell too appetizing for your own good." She teased, and I rolled my eyes at her.

"But on a more serious note, I promise he will not do anything to hurt you; I won't let him." She gave me a small smile, and then she raised one of her eyebrows at me questioningly. "So…will you be a good girl and go and take a bath or will I have to force you?" she flashed me a teeth baring grin that was as frightening as it was joyous, and I decided that it was best to do it on my own accord than having Miss Caroline forcing me down into the luxurious bathtub.

"I'll do it." I said quickly before she could get any ideas, and then jumped off the bed swiftly. Pain throbbed in my head, and I winced in discomfort and placed my hand on my head. Caroline frowned at me, and just before I disappeared into the bathroom, I _think_ she said 'Carlisle will have to look at that later.'… Who was Carlisle?

As Caroline had promised, the bathtub was filled with hot, steaming water and was ready to be used. I stripped out of my nightgown that was sticky with sweat, and then hesitantly tested the water with the tip of my toe. To my joy, it was a perfect temperature for my stiff muscles, and I happily slipped in and sighed in comfort as the warm water enfolded my body. As I lay there in the bathtub, I couldn't help but to think of _him_. His dark, furious eyes, the shape of his perfectly straight nose, his define jawline… All of his dreamlike features came back to me, and for some strange reason, I blushed. He was absolutely beautiful…

And now we were going to meet him. That fact made me a little nervous and scared. He may be absolutely, heartbreakingly beautiful, but he was still frightening and _definitely _dangerous. My blood smelled especially appetizing to him, right? Miss Caroline had said that I was his _cantante_. Meeting him would feel a little bit absurd after last night. What where we going to do; sit down and talk about the weather?

A sudden knock on the bathroom door made me jump in surprise. "Bella? Remember when I told you 'time doesn't really matter'? Well, I didn't really think you would take it to heart, so I change my opinion. Time _does _matter, you've been in there for almost an hour."

I blushed again, and flustered got out of the bathtub.

"Alright, give me a second or two!" I called back, and I heard how she laughed. I wrapped myself into the big, fluffy towel that was prepared for me and as I exited the room, the scene in front of me dazzled me. Miss Caroline sat on the edge of my bed, and playfully, she swung her feet back and forth in the air. Every time she did, the tip of her feet would touch the rim of the sunlight that shone into the room. But it was the reaction her skin made when it made contact with the sun that was astonishing. Even though the area of skin that the sun made contact with was very small, it casted rays of rainbows on the walls, like she was a crystal in human form instead of a vampire. Her eyes flashed to mine as soon as I had entered the room, and abruptly, she stopped swinging her feet like a child and turned towards me.

"I am sorry you had to see that. The sun will only be up for a few more minutes; then it'll be hidden for the rest of the day."

I slowly walked over to her, and then joined her on the bed, pressing the soft and fluffy fabric closer to my skin.

"That's okay. It was actually…fascinating to see." I confessed, and she grinned.

"Bella oh Bella, you're taking all of this _too_ well. I am beginning to think that something is wrong with you!" she laughed, and I joined her. Maybe she was right: maybe something _was_ wrong with me since I wouldn't be scared of vampires. Sending me to asylum would be the most reasonable thing to do next.

"When did you become such a confident weather woman? Is that another 'gift' of yours? Predicting the weather?" I wondered, changing the subject, and she laughed again.

"No, I'm not, but my dear friend Alice is. Alice Cullen, sister to Edward Cullen, has a gift as well. She is able to see the future." My eyes widened at her sudden revelation, and she giggled.

"That's the sort of reaction Alice loves to see. Anyways, she told me that the sun would be behind the clouds all day except this morning. All of us _can_ go out into the sunlight, but it feels a little bit wrong to expose yourself like that when you always work so hard to hide it."

She shook her head, and then smiled slyly. "Now, since you're _finally_ out of that bathtub you should get dressed. I have the perfect dress for you…" she trailed off with a grin, and then jumped off the bed and walked over to the closet on the south side of the room. She opened it, and then brought out a beautiful, midnight blue dress. I gasped, and she laughed at my reaction.

"I thought you might like it." She said, and I shook it.

"It's absolutely beautiful, but I can't accept this! The cost of this dress…!" I trailed off in horror, and Caroline shook her head dismissively.

"Yes, you can. You're going to wear the dress, and you're going to look absolutely fabulous." She handed over the dress, and I took it with hesitant hands.

"Now, I will help you with your corset." She said, and I groaned. I had worn corsets for some occasions, but every time it had been an absolute torture. Miss Caroline saw the face I made when she mentioned it, and she laughed reassuringly.

"There, don't look so sour. I'm wearing one as well."

"Yes, but you don't have to breathe, remember?" She laughed at me retort, and then proceeded to help me get dressed, despite all of my protests.

After Miss Caroline had helped me with my corset (which she thankfully had tightened to the degree were oxygen was able to enter my lungs) and helped me with the absolutely gorgeous dress she had gotten for me, she left me in the cabin to eat my breakfast the servants had arranged for me. My hunger was greater than I thought and my meal was eaten fast, gone within a few minutes.

The silence the empty cabin provided me was very nice, but the delight soon ended. The sound of the old, antique clock in the west wing that echoed through the cabin was the only sound I could hear and it became very uncomfortable as the time went and I wished that Caroline could return to my side as soon as possible.

The silence was abruptly disturbed though by a sudden, hard knock on the door. I jumped in surprise by the sudden noise, not ready for it, and was rose to walk over to it when it opened by itself. Mike, the human servant I had met yesterday, entered the room, his arms busy carrying a large, silver tray. When his eyes met mine, they widened in surprise and a vague, pink blush began to creep on his cheeks.

"Miss Swan! I am terribly sorry, I did not mean to-" he began to ramble, scared like the servant this morning had been that they had disturbed me, and I shook my head.

"No, by all means! And please, call me Bella."

"Bella…" he repeated in a soft whisper, and I could've sworn the blush on his face reddened. "A-Anyways, I came to see it you were done with your breakfast, Miss Bella." He said in a much more serious voice, clearing his throat in the end, and I nodded.

"Yes, am. It was very delicious, thank you." I said as he walked over to the table I had been sitting at and took the empty plates and dirty silverware.

"I will be sure to tell the chef that you liked it." Mike grinned, and then took a deep breath. "So-" he began, but he was interrupted by a swirl of wind. I thought a window was open, and confused looked around for an explanation and in a blink of an eye, Caroline appeared right next to me, like she had been standing there the whole time.

"I'm so glad that you're finished, Bella. Finally, we can be on our way!" she exclaimed, and I breathed deeply to calm down my frightened heart.

"Don't just appear like that!" I gasped, surprised. Her lemon yellow dress that matched her golden eyes was flawless, even though she probably had run in full speed from where she was before.

"Don't be silly Bella." She said in a laugh and then turned to Mike, who was staring at the two of us.

"Thank you so much for your help Mr. Newton, but we should be leaving. We're attending to a tea-party this afternoon, and we would hate to be late." She said, and then grabbed my hand and exited the cabin, dragging me with her as she did. I tripped on my feet to keep up with her as she practically hauled me with her in a fast phase, and when she finally slowed down and let me go I gave her a cold glare.

"Why did you do that for?"

"I was tired of waiting." She said with a carefree shrug, and I scoffed at her. Tired of waiting? Caroline was truly the same Caroline she was before she told me she was a vampire. If she has lived all those 800 years she claims, she certainly hasn't learned any patience in that time.

I sighed, knowing I wouldn't get a better answer than that, and then frowned, remembering what she had said to Mike. "Tea-party? I thought vampires didn't drink tea." I added, remembering what she had said yesterday. She rolled her eyes and grinned.

"Well, we don't. But _you_ do." She answered simply, and then she proceeded to lead me through the maze-like corridors to the Cullen's residence.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine." Caroline said as we rounded the last corner in the (what it seemed like) never-ending corridor, and I took a deep breath. I had gotten more and more nervous the closer we got to our destination, and no matter how many pep talks Caroline had given me, the uneasiness refused to go away. But I still _wanted_ to do this, no matter how scary it was. I wanted to thank the man –Edward –properly for saving me last night, and there was no other way doing that than this.

"I know; I'm ready." I said, both to her and to myself, and then together we walked to the two double doors in the end of the hall. We reached the door with few strides, and before Caroline or I could even touch the door, it flied open in one swift motion and a flurry shape appeared, moving too fast for me to see what it was.

"You're here! You're here!" A small pixie-like woman exclaimed in joy (now standing still) and skipped over to me with a huge smile plastered on her face. Her hair was black and pointed in every direction possible and her skin was chalk white just like Miss Caroline's. Once again she moved in a fast motion, too fast for me to even react, and then she enfolded me in a bone-crushing hug, and I felt how my air supply instantly was cut off, like someone just had tightened the corset in was wearing with a great amount. Even though she was small, she was still incredibly strong and I felt a little bit scared. I knew she was a friend of Caroline's and that Caroline would protect me if she thought I was in danger, but knowing the fact that it was a _vampire's_ mouth that was inches away from my skin still freaked me out a little.

But as this tiny vampire had caught me in her arms and prevented me from moving an inch (and breathing), my eyes travelled elsewhere. In the entrance of the door, _he_ was. It was much easier to see the details of him now in the light of the day instead of the vaguely illumination of the moon, and now I could really see the brilliance of his beauty.

His hair had a wonderful tint of reddish-brown, and even though it was messily arranged, in a strange way it was still beautiful. His face was stunningly gorgeous from everything to the tip of his nose to the way his extremely long eyelashes surrounded his butterscotch eyes. His body was lean and tall and even though his clothes weren't close fitting you could se he was slightly muscular. The recap I had done of him in the bathtub this morning gave him no justice now when he appeared in front of me. Everything about him was absolutely perfect, and like someone had turned on a switch, my heart instantly began to race and I somehow felt embarrassed for staring at him.

The girl that had hugged me released me quickly and just as she did, a dizzy sensation started to take over. Black spots began to spread before my eyes, and I realized what was happening just before the girl said it.

"She is going to faint."

My knees gave in underneath me but a pair of cold arms caught me and like I had been holding my breath, I began to gasp for air. That's when I realized I _had_ been holding my breath. My breaths came ragged and shallow, but it didn't help; my consciousness was slowly but surely slipping away.

"Fetch Carlisle. _Now_." Caroline ordered somewhere in the background, but her voice was sounding so strange and distance, like she was miles away instead of inches. I felt how my body began to feel heavier and heavier in her arms, and without realizing it, my eyes closed. Everything around me began to fade away, and at last it was only I and the darkness left in silence.

**A/N: I know it got a little short, but I hope you liked it despite the cliffhanger in the end!  
I have some news: I'm going to China tomorrow, and will be there in two weeks, so I'm sorry to tell you that there probably will be no new chapters to any stories during that time :( But I'll try to update as soon as possible when I get back!**

**Please review cutie pies; I love it when you do! /RF **


	5. Awakening

**A/N: SORRY! I hate that I haven't been able to update! After my glorious trip to China I got sick **_**the day after my birthday**_**. And once I finally got better, refused to work :( But now I can FINALLY put up this chapter! I hope you'll enjoy it!**

**Thank you for reviewing ****twi1ightfan123, vivx-chan, twirob and narutosonlyfriend! You guys rock :D**

**Chapter 5: Awakening **

"She's starting to wake up now, just as Alice said." A calm male voice said, waking me up from my unconsciousness. My head felt groggy and dazed, like I had slept for days and not just passed out in the front door of the people I was supposed to drink tea with. I groaned just thinking about the absolutely humiliating and embarrassing thing I had done, and as soon as the sound was out in the air, I felt a small wind blowing and then cold pressure on my hand.

"Bella! Please, open your eyes! I'm worried sick about you and you haven't uttered a sound! Please, give me a sign of that you are okay!" Caroline's familiar voice pledged to me worriedly, and slowly I squinted my eyes open as she had commanded. As soon as our eyes had made contact, she threw herself on me, laughing happily and the shock she gave me from her sudden action made adrenaline run through my system and my eyes widened and quickly took in my surroundings. The room I was resting in was large and beautifully decorated, just like the bedroom I had been provided with myself in my and Miss Caroline's suite.

"Why don't you take it easy Caroline? The girl just woke up." The same male voice said again from behind of Caroline, and as Caroline unwillingly untwined herself from me with a large, childish pout lingering in her face, I saw the face of the man sitting in the chair beside the bed I was laying in. The man sitting next to my bed was very pale and beautiful; the signature looks for all vampires of course, but he looked much older than Caroline did. He was blonde, the color one of the fairest I had ever seen in my life, and his lightly yellow eyes stared back at me with concern.

"I am sorry Carlisle, but I am just so happy she finally woke up! The world becomes so dull without her." She whined and the man called Carlisle smiled friendly at me.

"How are you feeling Bella?" he asked, and even though it took my a little time to realize it, after a little bit of time thinking, I _felt _it.

My hands went automatically to my chest, and after taking a few deep breaths, I was absolutely sure of it. "My corset is gone." I said, the words bewildering me. Caroline did not meet my eyes as I looked at her for answers, which directly told me she was guilty of something, and after a few seconds of being stared at, Caroline cracked.

"It wasn't my fault, it was hers! Alice hugged you so tightly so you couldn't breathe and that's why you passed out! Alice blames me because she says that after she let you go and you tried to breathe, the corset fit too tight and wouldn't let you! But if she hadn't hugged you from the beginning-"

"Caroline, it was no ones fault." Carlisle interrupted her calmly yet determinedly and she quieted down instantly, looked very unhappy while doing so. He looked back at me with a friendly look on his face and then spoke in an apologetic tone. "I am sorry I have been so rude and haven't introduced myself; I am Dr. Carlisle Cullen, but you could just call me Carlisle. I am the father of our family." He said, and information clicked in my head. Caroline had shortly gone through all of the family members, what their names were and what they were like, but I never imagined him to be so…godlike like his son.

"So Carlisle…you took off my corset in order for me to breathe?" I asked Carlisle nervously, but to my surprise (and honest relief) he shook his head.

"As soon as you had passed out, Caroline carried you over here to Alice's bedroom and strictly forbid anyone to watch as she removed your corset so that you would be able to breathe more properly. After that, she called for me and then let me examine you properly."

A soft, hesitant knock on the door interrupted my thoughts, and I brought my gaze to a small figure that cowered in the crack of the door, afraid to come forth.

"Alice, be a dear and come in." Caroline said, and without hesitating, she small pixie girl ran inside with inhuman speed, making the shape of her body blurry for my insensitive and human eyes. The door behind her shut without anyone touching it, and a moment too late, I realized that it was Caroline who had done it. The small girl, who I now understood was Alice, looked at me carefully, and the shame and regret radiated from her presents. Caroline looked at her strictly, her cold eyes possibly able to cut to glass if looks had such ability, and after a moment of silence, she finally spoke.

"Alice, what you did before was absolutely intolerable. I specifically told you to be careful when you met her, and the first thing you do when you meet her is make her faint." I felt terribly sorry for Alice, as she stood there quiet while being scolded at and I didn't like the way Caroline put all the blame on her. It was _her_ fault that I had to wear the damn corset in the first place, which had been one of the three factors in the whole fainting dilemma. The first factor was Alice's bone crushing hug, the second had been the tight corset and the third had been … Edward. Just seeing him there…it made me loose my ability to breathe.

"Caroline it's alright, it wasn't entirely Alice's fault. Both of you are at fault, so the only right thing to do here is for both of you apologize to each other.

Caroline turned to look at me, and as I saw her sad eyes, I knew that my words must've been a little bit too harsh. But since it was too late to take them back, I held my head high and simply waited to the two of them to apologize. The air became silent, and Carlisle and I sat by the bed, waiting for one of the two ladies to take the first step. Both of them stared intently at each other, like they were communicating with their eyes, and when I was about to tell them to do it already, Caroline sighed deeply and gave me an unhappy look.

"Since I hate it when you are mad at me, I guess I'll do it." She turned to Alice, and after a slightly bit of hesitation, she spoke. "I am sorry for accusing you."

"I too am sorry." Alice said, her small voice sounding sincere but relieved. A smile began to spread on her lips and then she looked at me.

"I am really sorry what happened to you Bella. I was so happy to _finally_ meet you after waiting for so long, I lost my control a little." Her choice of words made Caroline scowl at her, but Alice continued like nothing had happened. "As you know, I'm Alice and I am really happy that you could make it here, despite the accident than happened earlier." She said, skipping forward gracefully like a ballerina, making it look like she was dancing rather than walking, and then took my hand and shook it carefully.

I smiled back and shook my head. "No, the pleasure is all mine."

Alice giggled and the turned to Carlisle. "Have you examined her head?"

Her sudden question made me frown; did she believe there was something wrong with me now because I said I enjoyed the company of vampires?

Carlisle nodded (which surprised me even more) and then gave me an apologetic smile. "Edward, my son, told me that you hit your head rather hard last night, and after Caroline came by this morning and demanded that I would examine it, I decided it was for the best. Have you felt any pain since it happened?"

It took me a few seconds to respond. "Well… A little, but it was nothing serious." I told him, hoping that would make him drop the subject. I didn't like all this sudden attention; I was fine.

Carlisle gave me a small smile, and then brought out a small glass jar of pills from his pocket. "Take this medicine just in case. It's for the pain. As soon as you feel the ache, take one pill. If the aching does not pass after 2 hours, feel free to take another one." He said and stretched out his hand and placed the jar in my hand.

Sighing mentally, I took the pills anyway, and gave him a small smile. "Thank you." I knew they only wanted to help me, but I was all right; the only injury I probably suffered from the fall was a bump in the head and nothing more. I'm beginning to think that vampires are not the vicious creatures they made out to be; they'll kill you with their kindness and concern instead of with their fangs.

Alice, looking like she might burst with excitement, looked at Caroline happily. "Well, now when we're all done here, let's go and meet the others; they're dying to meet her!"

Caroline gave her a crooked smile and chuckled. "How can something die that's already dead?"

The three vampires laughed at her witty pun, and then she shook her head. "But all joking aside, are you sure you're well enough to meet the others? We can go back to our cabin and rest if you'd like."

I swiftly shook my head, not even wanting to consider the idea of going back, and then I smiled the most genuine smile I could, hoping it said "I'm alright and I don't have to go back".

"No, I can stay. I'm okay, really." I reassured them, and that was all Alice needed. She rushed to my side, and with one strong pull she heaved me out of bed like I weighted nothing. The sudden action made me gasp, and being the ungraceful and clumsy person I am, I almost fell over flat on my face, not being able to balance myself. Luckily Alice already had seen that coming, and had her arm placed around my hip, steadying me before I could fall, and then giggled.

"Let's go then!"

Together, the four of us walked out of the door and through the corridor that separated all of the rooms. If I could've had it my way, I would've strolled slowly in the corridor and studied the art and beautiful details of the walls and ceiling, but Alice's impatience was not to be tempered with so instead she practically dragged me after her with a joyful grin painted on her lips.

"Here we are!" She said just as we reached a large white double-door that lingered in the end of the hall, and without waiting her tiny little hands jostled the doors open, which didn't let me have time to prepare myself. The room inside was very alike the longue that Caroline and I shared in our cabin except it was _much_ larger. I knew that they were 7 in the Cullen family, but this…it felt more like a ballroom than anything else. Decorated beautifully in white and gold, the room looked like something out of a fairytale rather than a room onboard of a boat.

Even though our entrance had made quite some noise, none of the 5 beautiful vampires sitting in the seating area looked even the slightest startled. They all looked up from what they were doing and then watched us silently. Of course my eyes searched after Edward before I even knew it, and feeling embarrassed as our gazes met, I swiftly looked away and studied the other vampires that surrounded him. Alice giggled, and took my hand softly as she slowly skipped into the room, making me follow her awkwardly in ungraceful, clumsy steps.

"Everyone this is Bella Swan, the girl I told you about." I felt how Caroline placed herself on my left side and as I watched the other vampires' faces, I saw how each and every one of them acknowledged her in one way or another.

Suddenly out of nowhere, one of the female vampires that had been seating with the other vampires appeared in front of me, a friendly smile radiating from her face, and just looking at her I could tell she was a nice person.

"Hello and welcome." Her voice was as smooth as honey as she spoke and I couldn't help to smile back for some odd reason. "I am Esme, Carlisle's wife."

"It's very nice to meet you all." I told her and then dropped a small curtsey. Esme laughed friendly and looked at Caroline. "The girl has manner. I am sure you taught her well."

Caroline smiled back at the lady and then walked over to her and kissed both of her cheeks, something I had rarely seen her do. "It has been too long, my friend."

"It sure has." Esme agreed and her eyes travelled back to me. "Come, let me introduce you to our family."

Like if Alice had predicted I would freeze in movement and not walk, she gave me a small push towards Esme, and thankfully I did not trip over my own two feet as I made it over to her. Caroline took my hand and squeezed it protectively, and together the three of us walked over to the other 4 vampires that still hadn't moved from their spots. All of them were young looking, including Edward, and I couldn't help but to gawk a little at them.

The female, sitting the furthest away from me, had long, flowing honey blonde hair and her body had all the right proportions. Even though she was sitting, I could tell that she was tall, and her face was so beautiful Aphrodite herself would burst into tears. Just looking at her made me feel very self-conscious, but my shallow thoughts disappeared as soon as they had appeared the second I saw the man sitting next to her. The man was big, no, gigantic next to the slim girl next to him and his large and burly muscles made me scared down to my spine. The blonde woman was leaning against the man's large chest as she carefully stroked his brown curly hair with her hand and the way they sat made me jump to the conclusion that they were a couple.

Alice, who had been walking behind me together with Carlisle, skipped ahead of us and threw herself upon the one of them two men who were standing (the other one being Edward) and hugged him adoringly. The vampire was a tall and leonine man with blonde hair and as I looked into his direction, he met my gaze. His golden eyes pierced into mine, and even though I knew I _should_ feel awkward by looking at a stranger like that, I for some strange reason didn't. I felt…brave. Brave and excited to be exact. The man smiled at me, and not wanting to be rude, smiled back.

"These are my children, or at least that's what I call them." Esme said, with an amused smile on her lips and then pointed at the beautiful blonde sitting together with the muscular brunette.

"This is Rosalie and Emmett." She began, and the scary looking man grinned, making him look much less intimidating.

"So this is the human who fainted on our front step?" He chuckled, obviously amused by my little accident, and I blushed in embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you." Rosalie said halfheartedly as she inspected her nails.

"And this is Alice and Jasper. But you already know Alice, don't you?" Esme continued, pointing at the tall blonde, and he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He said in a slight accent that was similar to one a man in our village at home had. The man owned a convenience store, and all he ever talked about was his origins in the old south. Perhaps Jasper came from there as well.

Alice smiled happily and gave Jasper a little peck on the cheek and then grinned at me. "Jasper has a gift like me. You've already felt of it, that I am sure of."

Jasper looked down at Alice, who looked like a child compared to him and smiled. "But you wanted her to be happy to see us, right?"

She rolled her eyes with a smile on her lips and then turned back to me. "Jasper has the ability to manipulate people's emotions."

I stared at him for a second or two, details falling into place. "So, just right now…"

"I apologize for doing so. It's just that I felt how nervous you were so I thought-"

"He thought that if you were happy to meet them it would make me happy." Alice interrupted him, giggling, and then she turned to him with a smile. "And for your information I'm ecstatic."

"Jasper can also sense the emotions of the people around him." Caroline explained to me, and I smiled.

"Well, I _am_ happy to meet you Jasper." I said, and he smiled back at me friendly.

"And as I understood you and Edward have already met." Esme said as she looked towards her 3rd son, and he looked towards me.

"Yes, we did." He said, his voice smooth like silk, and as I stood there and stared at him, concentrating on how to breathe, all sorts of thoughts went though my head. I was for some reason happy to see him again. I was really grateful that he had saved me from that bloodthirsty demon the other night. But I was still a little bit frightened of him in a way. The way his eyes had watched me that night…

A chill went down my spine just by thinking of it, and with as much effort as I could I tried to block out the memories of the other night and instead released Caroline's hand and dropped to another curtsey.

"Thank you for saving me, I am eternally grateful for what you did."

"There is no need to thank me, I was happy to do it." He said, and even though he gave me a small smile, it was obvious that it was strained. His eyes, much darker than the others', were watching me with slight hunger.

Caroline, who seemed to be oblivious by my last observation, took my hand once again and then laughed a thrilling laugh.

"We were both glad you were there when you were Edward." She said, and then suddenly, she enfolded me in a hug, dragging me slightly away from Edward. "Without Bella my life would be such a huge bore." She said as she nuzzled her nose in the line of my neck. I shrieked in surprise and slight fear, and the other vampires laughed at her silly behavior.

"Let us sit down, shall we?" Carlisle said, and we all agreed. Caroline and I placed ourselves on a loveseat sofa in the opposite direction of Edward, Alice and Jasper, and the whole time, Caroline held my hand tenderly.

"Oh right!" Alice suddenly said, and in a blink of an eye, she had disappeared from her place beside of Jasper. She had returned a second later, and this time, she was holding a silver tray with a small cup of tea on it.

"I _did_ invite you over for tea, did I not?" she said, and I took the small cup from the oversized tray.

"Thank you, Alice." I took the small cup with golden roses on it and took a sip.

"So, how have you been Caroline? It has been such a long time since we saw you, at least 10 years." Carlisle said, and Caroline laughed.

"I have been well, just splendid. I have mostly spent my days with Bella in that house I bought 50 years ago in the north, I am sure you know which one I mean." She said, her words sounding so carefree when she spoke.

"Oh yes, I loved that building." Esme said, smiling dreamingly.

"How did you and the Cullen's meet?" I dared to ask Caroline, and she turned to look at me.

"Well actually, Carlisle was the first one of the Cullen's that I met. I think we met around 300 years ago in Italy."

"Oh yes, it was right before I joined the Volturi." Carlisle said, and his words almost made me drop my chin in surprise.

"You were in the Volturi once?" I asked, but it almost sounded like a shriek. All I could think of was what Caroline had told before about _punishment_ and _death_ that involved them.

"I was. I think both of us were in the Volturi at the same time actually."

I turned to stare at Caroline with wide eyes. "You never told me _that_."

"Well Bella, there's a lot about my past that you don't know."

"I don't think you've told us your past either." Alice and Emmett said in unison, which made the rest of us laugh.

"Well Chara, what do you say? Why don't you tell them, I am sure Bella wants to know as well." Carlisle encouraged.

"Chara…?" I asked hesitantly, testing the foreign word on my tongue.

"That was my name a long time ago. Chara Petros was the name I was born with 800 years ago in ancient Greece."


	6. A Story to Be Told

**A/N: Thank you ****vivx-chan, twirob and twi1ightfan123 for reviewing, I really appreciate it! :D  
Here's another chapter of All is Fair in Love and War, I hope you'll like it!**

**Chapter 6: A Story to be told**

"It all started a long time ago." Caroline began, looking at our entwined hands in her lap. All of the Cullen's were looking at her curiously, especially the young ones (well, _young_ is probably not the right word).

"As I said, I was born in a land that now is called Greece, and my name at the time was Chara, daughter of Petros. My mother, Helénē, died giving birth to me, which affected my father a lot but he never blamed me or treated me ill for it. Out of his 4 children, I was his only daughter, and maybe it was because I was the youngest or because I was the only woman left in the family, but he was always very protective of me." She paused for a second, and then laughed. "He always called me his little λουλούδι, his little flower. My brothers were also very protective of me, taking after our father. No males were every allowed to come near me, and if someone ever talked ill of me or tried to hurt me, they protected me."

"I never knew you had brothers." I said, giving her a small smile.

She looked up into my eyes and giggled. "I did, a long time ago. Their names were Demon, Hektor and Xan and I couldn't have asked for better kin. Hektor was the oldest and wisest one and even though he married a beautiful rich woman and moved into a large mansion outside of our village, he often visited us and brought us all kinds of gifts. Demon was the violent one. He joined the military after I had changed into a vampire and I believe he died the way he lived, by fighting for the things he believed in. Xan was the youngest of all of my brothers, 3 years separating us, and I think he was the one who understood me the best. He knew which flowers I liked when he brought me some from the fields outside of the village. He knew what to do when I woke up from nightmares as a child. He knew things about me that even my father had not discovered yet. We were as close as siblings could get.

"In my human life, I was very inexperienced with love. I was the rumored as girl with the red hair and I had lots of friends in the village, both male and female. My brothers made sure none of the boys got close to me (or the other way around). But even so, I still received plenty of offerings of marriage from them. They fell in love with my beauty, my unusual red hair color, my grace, my kindness I showed to my friends, but they didn't know who I was as a person. My father always declined, thinking I deserved better and I never questioned him. Our family was rather poor compared to the others, so I knew Petros wanted to marry me to a respectful, wealthy man. He always said he wanted someone to take care of me when his days were counted.

"When I was about your age Bella, a man came to our village. He was filthy rich, even richer than the noblewoman my brother had married, and even though everyone around me was impressed by his high status, I only found him pompous. He was a spoiled brat in my eyes who believed that anything he wanted was his. When the nobleman met me, he took a liking to me almost immediately, which my father was very happy about. Petros thought the same as all the others in the village, not seeing through his fake appearance, and was happy that a man with such a high status and much money was interested in me. The man, called Vasilios, showered me with gifts and compliments, and when his offer of marriage came, none of us were surprised. I begged my father not to accept his proposal, knowing I would never be happy with the tyrant, but he refused to listen. He thought I was acting spoiled and unthankful for everything he had done for me, and did not see any bad reasons for me to marry Vasilios; I would be a rich noblewoman, living in a large house with my own servants and with a husband who loved me, what was there not to like?"

She paused her story for a moment, her eyes looking into the distance but not really seeing, and then sighed. The smile that had stayed on her face through the story faltered and a cold expression set on her face which I had never seen her wear before.

"Everyone in the village rejoiced when my father announced that I was to marry Vasilios. He arranged a large feast that night, celebrating that his λουλούδι finally was getting married to a respectful man. I remember Vasilios face from that night, his expression radiating with pride, smugness and pleasure. I was his. He had successfully been able to get the woman that no other man had been able to get near. My brothers were no happier than I was, but they decided not to say anything. Xan was understandably the most unhappiest of them all, and during the whole dinner, he glared murderously at the man that was going to steal away his one and only sister. I was putting on a happy face during the whole thing, though I was crying inside, and as I heard my father and Vasilios talk about the future of our family, I felt how I slowly withered inside. My life was being decided for me all in one night and there was nothing I could do about it. Or, so I thought.

"Once the feast ended, Xan pulled me aside, his face alit with excitement and desperation and began to speak swiftly. He had arranged a horse for me from one of the other villagers and he begged me to run away. At first, I thought he had gone mad, but the more he explained his plan, I felt hope growing inside of me again. He said that I was to take the horse and then ride to a nearby village right by the sea. There, I was to board the first ship I could leading to any other place possible, and then look for my own happiness. Xan knew that I was able to handle myself out in the world and didn't need any financial support to a happy life, like my father believed.

"So I followed my brothers plan. When I had said a very tearful goodbye to Hektor, who had to return to his home, and hugged both my father and Demon goodnight a few minutes longer than normal, I waited for my father to return to his chamber. As soon as I thought we were not going to be discovered, Xan and I left our house so we could go to the man that had decided to help me. When we arrived, I realized that the man who was going to help us was actually one of my suitors who had been refused by my father. His name was Akakios and I had always found him to be a friendly person. At that moment, I cursed myself for not accepting this nice person's proposal when I had the opportunity.

After lastly telling Xan goodbye, promising him I would somehow contact him in the future and tell him how I was, I rode off into the night. I galloped in the pure darkness, hoping that no one was going to notice that I was missing until the morning, and during the entire ride, happiness bubbled inside of me. I was actually doing it; I was opposing my father and escaping the destiny he and Vasilios had decided for me. But unfortunately, that happiness did not last long."

The room fell into silence, and everyone (including Carlisle, who apparently already had heard the story before and Rosaline, who had looked anything but interested in the beginning of the storytelling) watched Caroline with curious eyes, and when she did not continue, I squeezed her cold hand lightly. "What happened next?"

She gave me a warm smile and without any warning she took out her hand from my grasp and instead wound her tiny arms around my waist, hugging herself to me lovingly.

"As I rode through the forest, I suddenly heard something. From the darkness surrounding me, growls and howls were heard, and my happy mood was instantly replaced with fear. I had heard stories about wolves travelling in packs around our village, prying on villagers, but I had never realized the danger those stories actually held. The wolves that tailed us were vicious, their claws stretching after the legs of the terrified animal I rode on. The horse, which was absolutely out of its mind with terror, decided it couldn't handle it anymore, and threw me off its back with a powerful kick. I landed hard on the ground, hearing how the horse raced away in the forest, leaving me behind in the darkness. I sat up as quickly as I could, but as soon as I placed weight on my foot, I shrieked in pain. My ankle was broken because of the fall, and as I looked up from my pained foot, I saw how the terrible beasts watched me with hungry eyes. What happened next I only remember vaguely. The wolves all attacked me, setting their teeth into me, making me scream horribly. I kicked around as much as I could, trying to fight them off, but it was a lost cause. Slowly but surely, I could feel how my strength slipped away, and when I realized that death was awaiting me next, I felt terror at the same time as I felt gratitude."

I looked at her with terror stuck eyes, scared by the horrible story she was telling me, and she laughed softly and ruffled my hair.

"Relax Bella, that was in the past. I survived it; those wolves didn't kill me. I _am_ here, aren't I?" She joked, and the rest of the Cullen's laughed with her, making me blush.

"Anyhow, as I laid there, at the brink of death, a miracle happened. Well, that's at least what I always used to call him, my little miracle." A soft smile entered her lips, and her vacant eyes seemed to be looking back at the treasured memory.

"Suddenly, all of the wolves disappeared, pained wolf cries filling the air, and out of nowhere, a beautiful man appeared. My vision was very blurry, but in the light of the moon I could see that he was beautiful, more beautiful than any man I've ever met. His hair had a strange blonde color I had never seen in my life, and his black eyes that stared intently at me were the kind of eyes that could look into your soul. He began to speak to me in a strange language, one I had never heard before, and I only groaned in pain in response. The pain from the bites the wolves had given me ached everywhere, and the blood loss I had suffered made me extremely dizzy. I remember the the desperate look he had on his face at that moment when he at the same time had desire he had to drink my blood, wanted to save me. The fight he fought inside of him had to be one of the hardest things he had suffered in his life. After staring intently at me, he spoke to me in Greek; 'do you want to live?'. I remembered that I groaned a weak yes before I fell unconscious, and that was all he needed. The vampire that was determined to save me changed me into what he was me and after the three days of the worst pain I've ever felt, I awoke as a vampire.

"It was very disorientating, "waking up" in a unknown cabin together with an unknown man with abilities and senses that I've never had or sensed before. The vampire, who politely introduced himself as Hans, was a 200 years old vampire from Germany, and his Greek was very limited, which made communicating hard. He, unlike me, hunted humans when we met, so when he told me what we were going to do, I froze. One part of my mind told me that it didn't matter, that my _thirst_ was more important, that I knew that it would feel _good _to kill those humans. But after thinking of my father and brothers, I refused. The thirst was maddening, but I did _not_ want to kill a human just so _I_ could survive. Hans thought that I was strange for thinking such thoughts but did not try to convince me of other opinions and respected my words. So instead of hunting humans, we hunted animals.

"I didn't speak to him until two weeks had passed. He had only referred to me as 'you' and 'girl', so I decided to tell me my name. He chuckled when I told him, and being a newborn, my temper got the worst of me an I attacked him."

I stiffened in Caroline's hold, and she laughed as she felt the change in my pose. "Don't worry Bella, I didn't hurt him. Even though I was much stronger than him, he was much more skilled in fighting than I was, so just when I thought I could tackle him to the ground, he brought me down in one hit. _Smiling._ At that point I actually considered if he was the evil spawn of the devil, pushing people to the ground whilst _smiling,_ but he politely explained why he had laughed. He did not think Chara suited me at all, and suggested that I should change it. Irritation flooded through me, but I restrained the temptation to bite off his neck and then instead asked what he thought I should be named. He told me that now that I've been reborn, I should name myself to something more fitting, and then he suggested that I should name myself _Caroline_, an old German name. At first I thought he was absolutely mad, but after a few days of thinking, I decided that that's what I wanted to be called.

"Hans didn't only change my name, but he changed my way of seeing the world. He showed me how to live as a vampire and told me how the world of the vampires worked. In my time as a newborn, thirst was the only priority I had on my mind. Hans taught me the techniques to hunt down different kinds of animals and even though I was inpatient, I learned well. He also taught me how to resist from the scent of humans, since that was my wish (even though he still hunted them himself). He took me to different villages, and then we just lingered there in the shadows, letting me get familiar to the scent of humans. He also trained my gift, telekinesis. As we were out hunting one time, I saw a deer running in the forest. I was enjoying the hunt, chasing the scared little creature through the forest. But after a few minutes of the chase, I decided I had had enough, and just simple thought 'just come here'. Like it had been a command, the deer flew towards me. Hans understood what had happened afterwards, and he helped me train so my gift could become stronger.

"After some time, my time as a newborn was over, and only really then did I see the world with different eyes. I also saw Hans with different eyes, the way that he had seen me all along. The love I had felt for Hans had slowly but surely grown the whole time I had spent with him without me realizing it. It wasn't until I stopped being a newborn and was able to focus on other things than just my thirst that I understood my feeling for him. Hans told me that he had loved me from first sight when he saw me riding through the woods. I never believed those words, but every time I told him, he just kissed me and said it was true. After a few years, Hans gave up his human diet as well and became a "vegetarian" as me, but he had already been feeding off animals since I had turned, so it wasn't as hard as it could've been. Hans and I travelled the world after that. We saw the northern parts of Europe, the south parts of Asia, Africa and the middle east.. We were all around the globe. Those years I spent together with him were one of the happiest ones in my existence."

Alice squealed in her seat, finding the romantic story absolutely delightful, and I saw how Esme smiled sadly at Caroline and squeezed Carlisle's hand. Caroline sighed and laid her head on my shoulder.

"But of course, the happiness couldn't last forever. When 500 years had passed of me being a vampire, something horrible happened. We were in Germany at that time in Hans hometown, pretending to be humans. I was in our cottage embroidering whilst Hans was out hunting. He said he would be gone for an hour, so when 3 hours had passed, I knew something was wrong. I ran into the forest, following his trail but when I was halfway, I smelled it; the scent of vampire flesh burning. I hurried there as fast as I could, hoping that the scent came from someone else, but when I reached the end of his trail, all my hopes were crushed. A large fire burned brightly in the middle of a clearing, purple thick smoke rising towards the sky, and in the middle of the flames a body of a vampire was burning to ashes. At first, I refused to believe it was him lying there. Maybe I had gotten the wrong scent? But just as I was about to turn around and look around in the area more carefully, I saw it. 4 meters away from the fire, his head was laying. His lifeless eyes were staring vacantly with fear and his mouth was forming a small 'o', like he was still screaming in pain. I stared at the scene for a long time, not being able to do something. After a few minutes of shock, I walked over to the head and gave him one small, last kiss before I threw his head into the fire as well. At that point my shock had turned into rage. I wanted to find whoever was responsible and get my revenge. No man or woman could ever go unpunished for this. But someone beat me to it.

"I smelled two vampires approaching, one of them having the same smell as the one I had find there at the fire. I prepared myself to fight, but when I saw who it was, I stopped myself. A large man entered the clearing but once he saw me he stopped in his movements and in his arms was the body of a female vampire with red, curly hair, her head also decapitated. It was the smell of the female vampire I had smelt before, not the male's, so instead of attacking him like I had planned, I hissed and demanded him to tell me what had happened to Hans. The man, who said his name was Felix, told me that he was from the Volturi. Hans had told me about them before, who they were and what they were doing.

"Felix told me that he had seen the woman kill Hans, so he went after her and killed her as well. Since I knew someone from the Volturi wouldn't lie, I decided to trust his words. But I was still mad. I had not been the one to avenge my mate. The body of the dead woman was still in his arms, so without a warning, I used my powers to make the body and the head float into the air, and then without any mercy, I ripped them all to thousands of pieces, and then sent them into the fire. Felix, understandably surprised, told me that I should come with him to Volterra, the base of the Volturi. At first, I refused him. I had lost Hans, my one and only love; this eternal life I had seemed more like a curse than a gift now. So why would I waste my eternal time to be in that family, doing their dirty work?

"Felix did not like my answer, but decided to leave me alone to grief. For 4 months, I stayed inside the cottage where Hans and I had lived and did nothing. The only time I exited the house was when I needed to hunt. Felix revisited me after those 4 months had passed, once again determined to take me with him to Volterra, and this time I didn't refuse him. I knew I had to move on with my life because that's what Hans would've wanted me to do. So I went with Felix to Volterra and then I joined the Volturi."

Caroline raised her head from my shoulder where she had rested it, and then grinned at Carlisle. "I think I met you when I had been there for 14 years." She laughed at the memory and hugged me to her side. "You were such a baby at the time, only a few decades old as a vampire."

Carlise and the others laughed and he smiled friendly. "Yes that was such a long time ago. You left after I had stayed there 5 years if I remember it right." He said mused and she nodded.

"Yes. I met you on and off after I left though. But once I did leave Italy I decided to come over here to America and see how it was over here, since Hans and I never went. And I've stayed here up until now." She declared.

"Wow…that was an amazing story. I never knew Miss had lived such a life!" I said, and she laughed.

"Yes…But the moment I met you and your parents I felt more bliss than I've ever felt in over a hundred years. Especially you." She said, and touched the tip of my nose, grinning. I blushed, embarrassed, but I couldn't help but to smile.

Caroline smiled back, and then motioned towards my teacup that was now floating in the air. "Now drink a little Bella; this is a tea party after all."


	7. An Angel Among Monsters

**A/N: …Sorry ;( Sorry times a thousand times and then some. I've been really busy with school and my work this past month, so I haven't had the time to write :( But since it's been such a long time, I thought I would write an extra long chapter :D  
Thank you my 2 guys, twirob, narutosonlyfriend and vivx-chan for reviewing! I appreciate it ;D **

**Chapter 7: An angel among monsters**

I stared at Caroline, mesmerized by her incredible story, and then with shaky hands took the floating teacup in front of me, drinking the tea slowly. The hot content slowly slicked down my throat as I drank, but I couldn't taste it. All of the Cullen's stared at Caroline, some of them looking clearly astonished while others looked vaguely impressed, and then Emmett, who was frowning with a confused expression painted on his face, spoke.

"But why is the girl with you? Did you keep her to eat? " He asked rather rudely and Rose, his mate, elbowed him in his side. He made a small noise when her hard elbow hit his chest; the sound of it echoing through the quiet room, but his eyes stared at me consistently, still waiting for an answer. I shivered at the thoughts that entered my mind, and I knew that Caroline felt how I tensed up beside her.

Caroline smiled sweetly towards him, but her eyes were as cold as ice. She stared at him with her menacing expression and after 10 long seconds of silence, she spoke in a low tone.

"_Apologize."_ Her tone was no louder than a whisper, but the effect it brought was more productive than any scream ever would be. He straightened up in his seat, the large muscles underneath his clothes tensing uncomfortably, and then suddenly rose. He locked his eyes with mine, and then he bowed.

"I apologize for my rudeness, Miss. I hope you'll forgive me." Emmett said in his most polite voice he could manage, and I widened my eyes as I saw everything happening before me.

"P-please, rise! I am not offended by your question at all!" I said, flustered by the sudden change in attention, and then turned to Caroline and grabbed her hand. "Caroline, he did not mean any harm!" Slowly, Caroline turned towards me, and as her butterscotch eyes locked with mine, I saw how she slowly started to calm down, her hard gaze softening within seconds. Her stiff smile on her lips turned genuine, and she softly stroked the back of my hand.

"Alright, if that's what you want Bella." She turned her head towards Emmett, who was staring back at her with confused and puzzled eyes. "I am sorry for my outburst, but I would prefer if you did not speak ill of my dear Bella. She is not someone's meal; she's family."

The Cullen's all took one short look at me before turning back to Caroline, and Rosalie was the first one to dare to open her mouth.

"When you say family…do you mean like your daughter?" She carefully asked, ignoring when Edward shot her a glare from across the room. I froze in my seat, shocked by the question, but then it hit me; what was I to her? Why did she decide to take care of me when my parents died? There surely must've been hundreds of orphans in the orphanage in the town: why did she pick me? And was I like a daughter to her? I've always thought we were of the same age…

Caroline stared at her dumbfounded for a few seconds and then she burst into laughter.

"I am sorry it's just… its just such an odd question for me." She smiled at me and shook her head. "I never saw Bella as my daughter and I never will. She's more of a sister to me than anything else." She dropped her gaze and concentrated on our entwined hands in her lap.

"Bella grew up with me. Since her mother and father were both dear employees of mine and lived in one of the guestrooms in the mansion, I got to see Bella almost every day. I saw her changing day after day, growing into a beautiful young woman, and…there was something about her that was different from all the other humans I had met; It made me want to protect her. She was like the little sister I never had." Caroline explained, her eyes avoiding mine like she was ashamed admitting it. Rosalie stared at her with a confused look, obviously not believing Caroline's reason to stay devoted to me was because I was like a sister to her and then gave me a short, disapproving look.

I looked down at my lap and breathed deeply in relief. Of course, I saw Caroline as a sister too; I always had. But just the thought of having Miss Caroline as my mother… let's just say that I am the most responsible one of the two of us.

Caroline brought her cold hand to my back and stroked it softly, and as I looked up to meet her eyes, I saw the worry that lingered in them.

"Are you alright Bella? Perhaps this is enough for today." Caroline said, a slight frown starting to pucker on her face. The sudden turn of attention to me made me blush, and I immediately shook my head.

"No, no! I am absolutely fine! Please don't worry about me, Miss." I said raising my hands in protest, but she just raised her eyebrow at me with a skeptic look.

"Really, do you have to leave now?" Alice pleaded helplessly, like she knew she was about to loose the argument anyways, and fixated her eyes onto mine.

I hesitated answering, not wanting to argument against Caroline about leaving nor turn Alice down when she had treated us so kindly, but all I managed was to take in a breath of air when Caroline beat me to it and spoke all so gracefully.

"We do. But thank you for your hospitality Alice; it has been the most appreciated." Caroline smiled sweetly and in one swift motion she stood up, dragging me with her in the process. All of the Cullen's rose as well, and as we started to walk towards the door, Carlisle walked ahead to talk to Caroline, thanking her for joining them this evening and so on.

I started to walk as well, falling behind the others since my awkward, clumsy way of walking (at least compared to the graceful and elegant strides the others took) made me slower. I grimaced as the others came further and further away from me, and then sighed in relief. I had made it. I had successfully made it through the whole tea party without embarrassing myself to the extent of dying (although I _had_ embarrassed myself a few times, that I must admit).

"Is something the matter?" A silky smooth and soft voice suddenly asked behind me, the surprise making my heart skip a beat in alarm. I swirled around to face the one who had spoken and my eyes met his gaze almost in an instant. Edward smiled at my stunned face and I blushed furiously. _Well, now the theory of not being embarrassed to the extent of dying goes down the drain_, I thought depressingly.

I took a few breaths so my jumpy heart could calm down, and then responded him quite breathlessly.

"You gave me quite a scare! I didn't hear that you were behind me."

"I apologize if I caused you much fright." He said, but his small smirk in the end of his mouth that he obviously tried to hide told me otherwise. "I'm not that used to socializing with humans so I forgot your hearing senses are much duller than ours. I figured you already knew I was walking behind you but…I guess I was wrong."

The voices of the others had slowly started to fade away as they rounded the corner of the corridor, leaving us completely alone with each other. I looked down at my feet and blushed once again, feeling like the stupidest person on the entire planet. He had walked behind me this entire time and I hadn't noticed? I shook my head, and then mustered my courage to look into his eyes and speak the words that had been stuck on my tongue this entire day.

"I …I just really want to thank you for what you did to me the other day. Properly, that is. I understand it must've been hard for you, but the fact that you saved me without causing me any harm made me…well, it made me extremely grateful."

"Miss Swan-"he began, but I swiftly interrupted him.

"Please, call me Bella."

He smiled his beautiful angelic smile, which made me wonder for a few short seconds why anyone at all would even consider vampires to be the spawn of the devil, but the image of the attack reentered my mind and I immediately regretted my thoughts. They may not all be that bad, but there are some of them that deserve the title "monster".

"Bella," he began softly, and without warning, he slowly brought up his hand towards my face and then gently stroked my hair. My heart skipped a beat in surprise, and I saw something in his eyes; was it chagrin? "What I did to you _did_ cause you pain." He said and I felt how his fingers found the swelling from when my head had hit the deck floor.

I frowned at him and breathed out in slight anger. "Mr. Cullen-" I began, but almost as a joke, he interrupted me with some amusement in his eyes.

"Please, call me Edward." He said softly, but the smile that appeared on his pale lips didn't quite reach his eyes.

I took a deep breath before continuing, trying to calm myself. "Edward. What you did to me was saving my life! If you hadn't saved me at that moment, I would've probably been caused a thousand times more pain, maybe even death! A bump on the head is _nothing_ compared to that."

He smiled without humor and then shook his head. "Bella, you don't understand. If I had jostled you a bit more recklessly than I did last night I could've broken your skull. And the feeling I had that night of almost losing my control, my sanity, to the temptation of your blood…" his eyes closed and I could feel his hand stiffening in my hair. He breathed deeply, slowly, like he was reliving it all over again, and when he opened his eyes again, I noticed how the color had darkened once more.

I smiled at him despite the fear I felt crawling down my spine, and then I took his hand that he had rested upon my head and took it in my own ones and gave it a soft squeeze. "I understand that you feel guilty and worried, but judging by the fact that you _didn't_ break my skull last night nor have you tried to hurt me today, I'd say that you've succeeded with keeping me alive."

He suddenly let out a small chuckle, and then looked at me strangely, like he didn't believe what I just had told him. "Caroline's right; there's surely something different about you…" He murmured, staring intently at me and the way he stared…there was something in his eyes that I didn't recognize.

"Bella?" Out of nowhere, a voice called behind me and I let out a small shriek in surprise, instantly dropping Edward's hand. Did they want to scare me to death? Why couldn't vampires interact with you without feeling the need of making you scream in terror?

I turned around, and I was instantly met by Caroline's concerned gaze.

"Are you alright Bella? Did something happen?" she asked, immediately scrutinizing me with her eyes to see if I had gotten any visible damage since the last time I'd seen her.

"Wait a second, I'll just have to restart my heart." I said sarcastically and breathed deeply to calm down my erratic heart. These scares Caroline put me through really must be bad for my health…

"You weren't with us others so I became worried when you didn't show." She explained, making a slight glance at Edward. I gave her a small reassuring smile and shook my head.

"It's okay, I just felt the need to thank Edward once again for saving me last night." I said and pointed at Edward, whose face had grown slightly stiffer by the arrival of Caroline. He nodded as Caroline's yellow eyes pierced into his, and after looking back and forth between the two of us, she took my arm and gave me a small smile.

"I'm sorry Bella, but we have to go now if we want to be ready for tonight."

I frowned at her questioningly. "Be ready for…what?"

Caroline smiled a smile that was partly guilty partly sly and I felt myself getting slightly worried about what she was going to tell me next. What had she gotten us into now?

"I promised Alice that we would appear on tonight's ball." When she saw the horror that struck out on my face, her smile spread even more. But she shook her head reassuringly and took my hand in hers.

"Don't worry Bella, it won't be that bad. A little bit of dancing, a little bit of mingling… "The more she tried to console me, the more worried and terrified I felt, and she couldn't help to laugh at my horrorstruck expression.

"Bella, you worry too much. This will work out perfectly fine."

Yeah…"_perfectly_" fine...

***Later***

"This is _completely _unnecessary." I complained as we walked through the corridors, and felt how I began to feel a little bit sick (and it wasn't motion sickness).

"Stop acting silly, Bella. The way you're looking people will think were going to a funeral, not a ball." She scoffed, seeing my appalled face and I sighed. Well, it might not be a funeral, but the chance that I might _die_ tonight is quite big.

"I'm sorry Miss it's just…you know how I feel about things like these." I said, and she turned to me and smiled gently.

"I do. But I _did_ make a promise. Alice will be so cross with me if we don't show." She said, crushing my last remaining bit of hope and I sighed.

After we had returned from the Cullen's residence, Caroline had rushed me into getting ready. After bathing, fixing my hair and makeup and eating a small set of meal, she tightened my corset (which this time actually was fastened reasonably tight) and then she showed me the dress. It was a long, white dress with pretty bead embroideries, and as I saw her packing up the dress, I gasped.

"_Caroline, you can't expect me to wear __that__!"_ I had shrieked and she giggled.

"_I don't. But Alice do." _

Alice, who had sent the dress had written a small, personal note inside the package that said. '_I know you will wear it and trust me; you will look __gorgeous__!'_

So after making ourselves ready (although it probably just took 10 seconds for Caroline) we headed out. The sun had already gone down once we were on our way and somehow Caroline already knew the whole outline of the ship and all of its strange corridors and nooks unlike me, who hadn't seen anything of the ship apart from it's corridors, a small part of the outside deck and the Cullen's residence.

"Here we are." Caroline said after a while, and ahead of us were a pair of large double doors guarded by two stern, buff-looking vampires who both looked incapable of smiling.

Caroline, seeming to be oblivious to the two men, grabbed my hand and skipped forward like a child, her green dress flowing flawlessly with her movements, and as we got closer to them, one of vampires took one step forward and then bowed courteously.

"Welcome, Miss Gray. You're expected." He spoke, rising from his bow and met her eyes. That's when I noticed it, the color of their eyes. Instead of the golden-yellow color I had gotten so familiar with, their irises were colored a dark shade of bloody red. I let out a small gasp in horror and just as I had, both of the men turned their eyes towards me, inspecting me with distrustful and skeptical eyes.

Caroline noticed my sudden fear, and grabbed my hand in a soothing motion.

"Relax Bella. I guess I should warn you that some of the guests are indeed feeding on humans." Her confirmation of my fears made me stiffen in my movement. Feeding on humans… I knew what she told me was true; she had told me about it once before, but then, it didn't seem so…vivid. But now, seeing the evidence right in front of me…it was scary.

"But I want you to remain calm. I won't let anyone harm you." She said, sincerity clouding her voice. But then, a small playful grin appeared on her pink lips. "But I think it would be best if you stayed close to me the rest of the night, just to be on the safe side."

Without waiting for my answer, Caroline proceeded to walk towards the two large double doors, and almost like a silent command, the men moved out of the way and the large doors opened swiftly by Caroline's will. As soon as the doors opened, music poured out and looking inside, you would think you were in a fairytale.

The room was huge, gigantic even, and straight ahead, there was a big staircase that went to the other 2 levels that all overlooked the dance floor beneath them, surrounding it in a wide circle. Above all of the dancing guests, a beautiful chandelier hung, sparkling. At the top floor, hidden from the dancers eyes, the orchestra sat playing and everywhere in the room there were people dancing, laughing and drinking… It looked so human, the way they acted. But if you looked close enough, you could see all small details that differed them from ordinary humans. The substance in those glasses weren't wine; it was blood. The stiffness and stillness in the way they stood, the cold pitch in their laughs and those red eyes that overlooked everything…it all indicated the same thing.

Caroline took my arm, and with her head held high, she gracefully entered the scene together with me. If I was nervous before, I was absolutely terrified now, and with shaky, deep breaths I went ahead and tried to mimic her elegance and class to at least make it _look_ that I actually belonged there (which I didn't in the first place).

As soon as we had made our way inside, all eyes turned to us (at least it felt like it). Their crimson eyes inspected us, judged me and adored Caroline. It was like she was a long lost queen in their eyes; finally returning to their sight, and it didn't take long until the introductions started. One after another came up to us and then graciously introduced themselves to Caroline, sometimes giving me a glance or an introduction as well, but they all demanded _her_ attention, and she all gave them a polite and civil response.

"I see someone is popular as always." An amused, familiar voice spoke behind us, and Caroline laughed as she turned us around and met Alice's grinning face.

"Stop exaggerating, Alice. It has just been a long time since I've made an appearance, that's all." She shrugged, but I could see in her joyful smile that she was enjoying it quite well.

Out of nowhere (well, that's what it felt like to me) all of the other Cullen's appeared behind Alice, joining our little group, and it was obvious that our small assembly caused a lot of attention. I tried to ignore the piercing red eyes around us, and instead met a couple of soft, butterscotch ones instead. Edward gave me a small, polite smile as out eyes met, and almost automatically, I blushed and smiled back.

"So, when will I have my dance?" Alice said, and since her eyes bore themselves into mine, I couldn't imagine that she meant anyone else but me.

"I don't know. I don't recall that I actually _promised_ you a dance." I said, and Alice grinned slyly.

"No you didn't, but it's just a question of time. 1 dance from now or 20: it doesn't matter. All I know for a fact is that you _will_ dance with me at least once tonight." She said, almost like a threat, and I felt that knot tying in my stomach once again.

"But Miss, I _really can't_-"I began, trying to convince her that my dancing skills were as good as a drunken elephant, but she just interrupted me, her face alit with confidence.

"Yes you can, and you will. As I said; it's just a question of time." She said, and I knew that I had lost the argument. The defeat must've shown on my face because the other Cullen's laughed softly, trying not to be rude by their obvious amusement over my defeat.

"Well, if Bella isn't going to steal you away yet, may I have this dance?" Jasper asked, grinning widely as he grabbed one of Alice's small hands and planted a loving kiss on top of it. She let out a small, content giggle and then nodded.

"You may." That was all Jasper needed, and a second later both of them were swirling around the dance floor. Carlisle smiled and then looked at his lovely wife.

"Shall we follow their example, my dear?" He asked, and Esme nodded. Together, he and Esme and Rosalie and Emmett all entered the dance floor, and left were Edward together with Caroline and I.

Caroline smiled at Edward and then, with no warning, hugged me to her side. I protested against her icy, steel hard grip, but when she didn't release, I knew she wouldn't let go until she wanted it herself.

"So…we meet again." Caroline said, smiling at Edward. I whish I could say I _wasn't_ staring at him but… I was. He _had_ dressed very fashionably this evening, but that was nothing compared to now. His hair was as it had been before, styled in this quite messy yet still beautiful way and his eyes were brightly gold instead of the dark shade of yellow it had been in before. He bowed gracefully, making us courtesy in response and after the formalities he answered.

"Yes. I came since my sister refused to have it any other way."

"Huh…" Caroline huffed, sounding oddly distant, and then she grimaced. "It seems that someone is demanding my attention. Edward, do me a favor and stay with Bella until I get back." Caroline released her hold of me, but before leavening us completely, she gave me a peck on the cheek and then grinned when she saw my stunned expression. "I won't be long."

Caroline disappeared through the crowd and soon, we were all alone among the mass of people. I could feel their stares, looking at me now that my guardian had gone away for the moment, wondering if I was an easy pray. Edward seemed to notice it too, and without a word, he offered his arm for me. I took it gratefully; hoping any of the vampires wouldn't try anything now that they saw that I wasn't completely alone.

"Thanks again." I murmured quietly as we had started walking, figuring from our last conversation about human hearing that he would hear what I said, and as I thought, he had.

"There is no trouble. Some of these people's thoughts are just vulgar." He explained, and I instantly remembered his "gift" so to speak and how I was his only exception to it.

"But you can't hear what I think?" I asked, the question making me sound almost worried about it. Edward turned his head to look at me, like he was surprised I knew something like this, and then he shook his head.

"No, not at all." He sounded disappointed as he answered, his brows burrowed together and I guess it bothered him that he had a flaw with his gift, a mystery he couldn't solve. "So humor me," he continued. "What _are _you thinking?"

"Well," I began. "I don't know. I'm thinking that _this_," I said, motioned around me. "Is a little bit scary. All of it in fact. But I'm also thinking that I'm grateful to have you by my side at the moment." I blushed as I had spoken and cursed within my head. How could I have said something as embarrassing as that?

Edward frowned, my thoughts apparently bothering him, and he shook his head. "I don't understand how I have gained your trust so easily. I_ am_ just like every one else in here, a monster that survives by prying on others. What makes you think I am so different from all of the others? How do you know that you can actually trust me?" He asked as he stared intently at me like I was a puzzle impossible to solve. We had now stopped, and I thought about it for a moment. What made him so different from the others? I _did_ trust him…but why? I hardly trusted any other vampire in this room except the Cullen's and Caroline.

I shrugged casually and looked at the dancing couples on the dance floor, avoiding his intense stare. "I don't know. I guess… well, you've had the opportunity to hurt me countless of times but as far as I see it, I'm still alive. I believe that deserves some trust." I said, and smiled to myself.

I heard how he breathed to speak but instead of speaking, he tensed. I looked up, and I saw how his eyes were distantly looking across the dance floor as well, looking but not really seeing.

"What's wrong? Are you hearing something?" I asked, suddenly becoming afraid that something had happened. Edward instantly looked back at me but his lips were painted with a reassuring smile.

"It's my sister. She's coming to get you for her dance." He said, grinning.

My eyes widened by his words, and I groaned weakly. "Couldn't she had wished for another partner that _doesn't_ have two left feet when it comes to dancing?" I said, and Edward laughed.

"No, because then it wouldn't have been you, silly!" Alice said giggling, suddenly appearing in front of me. Jasper was standing behind her, regarding the whole scene with amused eyes and a grin on his lips. "Come on now Bella, let's dance!" Alice took my hand in hers, but I didn't move my feet. If I were going to dance, she would have to drag me there kicking and screaming.

But suddenly, without any warning, my feet began to move on their own accord. I gasped, shocked and mesmerized by the odd feeling of not having any control over my own body and then looked questioningly at Alice, who had taken my hand in hers and then rested her hand on my waist.

"What's going on?" I asked as we started to waltz around the floor, our movements both graceful and correct as she led me through the sea of dancers.

She giggled slyly and then looked away from my eyes with guilt. "I may or may not have asked Caroline to 'guide' you a little if you were completely resistant to the idea of dancing with me tonight."

My eyes widened, and I instantly began to search for her in the crowd. It didn't take long for me to find her. She was standing next to Edward and Jasper who now had been joined by the rest of the Cullen, and now all of them were watching us with laughter. I gave Caroline a meaningful look, hoping it said something in the meaning of 'you will regret this later', but she just ignored me, grinning evilly. Instead, without any warning, Alice dipped me down, my body completely ready for the movement, and then we once again began to spin around the dance floor.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" I asked Alice, who was smiling brightly towards me. She was like a child compared to me, both mentally and physically and as soon as I had asked my question she laughed, the sound clear as a bell, and then nodded. "Yes, I am."

Luckily, Caroline had some mercy for me, and as the song drifted towards an end, so did our dance. As soon as I felt I had control over my own legs, I said a swift goodbye to Alice and then escaped through the crowd. I knew that I was going the wrong way if I wanted to head towards Caroline, but the humiliation she had put me through and …well torture is probably not the right word but it sure felt like it, I didn't really feel like seeing her smug face for the moment.

When I thought I had put a reasonable distance between us, I started to slow down in my steps and then proceeded to walk in a slower speed. As my anger had cooled, I realized that this hadn't been the best plan. The vampires regarded me curiously, some of them probably considering walking over to me since I _was_ the human Caroline Gray had taken care of.

I felt fear crawling down my spine, fear I had forgotten when I had been together with my friends, and the more I thought about my choice, the more stupid I felt.

"Miss Swan- I mean, Bella! What a surprise!" I heard from my left, and once I turned, I saw the familiar face of the human servant boy that had served me my breakfast this morning: Mike.

"Mike! What are you doing here?" I asked just seconds before I spotted the tray he was holding.

"Working, as always." He said, looking a little bit embarrassed by the fact. But as soon as he saw my pitying look, his eyes widened in horror. "But of course I get days off too! And working isn't that bad, especially when I get to meet you." He said, and he blushed again.

"Well, it was nice to meet you too." I said sincerely, smiling gratefully at him. He might be…a little bit odd, but his company _did_ put me at ease somewhat, at least now.

He suddenly seemed to remember that he was holding a tray and then politely showed it to me. "Would you like something to drink?" There were two sorts of glasses standing on the tray. There was one were the liquid was dark red and squishy (well, I could only guess what that was) and there was one with a golden bubbly liquid. Mike seemed to see my puzzled look and laughed nervously. "I'm sorry this is…" he trailed off, pointing at the red glasses. "Well, for our other kinds of guests, if you know what I mean." He said, trailing off in a nervous laugh. I nodded, don't wanting him to explain any further. "And this is champagne." He said, pointing at the other glasses.

I looked at the bubbly liquid and grimaced. The last time I accidently drank some alcohol, I blacked out on the spot. Caroline had brought me back to my room but it had taken me 3 hours to regain consciousness again.

I shook my head, and smiled politely. "Thank you for your offer, but I think it would be best for me to decline."

"Oh, alright then." Mike grinned, and then moved away the tray from me. "So…" he began, but trailed off.

"Yes?" I prompted, confused about what he wanted to ask me.

"I was wondering if you would like to-" he began to ask, but suddenly got cut off, mid sentence. He was staring wide eyed at something behind me, and as turned around, I had to admit that I was quite surprised to find Edward standing there.

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you." He said, and then took my hand, starting to lead me away from Mike and his tray. Mike watched dumbfounded as we left through the crowd, and I frowned at Edward.

"What was that for?" I asked, thinking it was rude and uncaring to leave behind Mike like that without a proper explanation.

Edward grinned, although it seemed sort of strained, and then shook his head.

"Just trust me with this, alright?"

He led me through the crowded room, his hand holding mine firmly, and suddenly without warning, the two of us swirled out on the dance floor together with the other couples. Since Caroline had no part in this, I was all on my own when it came to the dancing, and as Edward gracefully strode forward, I was nowhere close to his elegance. I could tell he was downplaying his dancing skills so I would have any chance at all to keep up with him, but it still wasn't enough for me.

"Why are we dancing?" I asked him confused and slightly terrified as I stared intensely at my feet, trying to remember the steps for the dance we were dancing. I had humiliated myself enough for one day, dancing wouldn't make that better, only worse.

"So a certain boy who is watching you will get his mind on something else. Someone with thoughts like his doesn't deserve to be in the presence of an angel like you." Edward answered simply, giving me a meaning look and then effortlessly led us so could I catch a glimpse of Mike, who was standing amongst the crowd, looking towards us with yearning eyes. I blushed at the compliment he had giving me, feeling nothing like an angel for the moment, but I then realized that he had insulted Mike by doing it and the flattered feeling in the pit of my stomach disappeared within seconds.

"What do you mean? Mr. Newton isn't all that bad." I said, suddenly defending my odd friend. I didn't really know Mike as a person, but I didn't like that Edward was treating him with so little respect. Edward looked at me with thoughtful eyes, and then grinned.

"Well, that may be true or not, but that wasn't what I meant. I was more concerned about your feet being stomped on. He was thinking about asking you to dance, but his head was filled with worry about stepping on your feet. His other dancing experiences had apparently not been that successful." Edward explained. Oh poor Mike. He was probably as horrible at dancing as I … but considering how bad of a dancer I am, this seemed to be going quite well.

Just as those thoughts had entered my mind, I clumsily made the wrong move and in result I accidently stomped Edward on his foot. All right, scratch my previous thought; this was going horrible.

"I am so sorry, are you all right?" I asked him as we had stopped our swirling dance, and Edward smiled crookedly.

"Lucky for me, my feet aren't as fragile as Mr. Newton. Perhaps this was best for the both of you." He said, teasing me. I blushed, feeling like an utter and complete fool, and then shook my head.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." I sighed, and he smiled reassuringly. Then, without warning, he suddenly lifted me so I was standing on top of his feet and with no trouble he continued our dance.

"Please let me down Mr. Cullen, this is embarrassing!" I begged, afraid I would lose my balance and fall backwards in any minute. Edward didn't seem to notice any fault with his new solution, and smiled.

"Just hold on to me tightly and it will be alright." He reassured me, hugging me tighter to his chest. At first, I wasn't that into the idea. But since I didn't want to fall and make a fool out of myself, I did as he had suggested and hugged myself closer to his chest. As we spun around the other couples, my gaze went towards the crowd. For a second, I thought I spotted Caroline. Her eyes had stared at us angrily, almost murderously, and the way they followed us gave me the chills. But before I could get a better look, Edward had spun me around again, making me loose sight of her. I tried to look for her again, searching the spot I had seen her with my gaze as it came into my view, but the place was empty, making me believe that my eyes were playing tricks on me.

To tell the truth, I didn't want the dance to end. Edward's smooth, effortless movements that spun us around the dance floor was soothing in a way, and I had to admit, I liked resting my head on his chest, feeling his strong arms on my back. My heart was beating excitedly the whole time and even though I wasn't moving, I became breathless.

But of course, every dance must end at some point, and as the long yet wonderful song drifted to its end, I felt how Edward started to slow down. I stepped down from his two feet (which I hoped didn't ache despite of what he said) and then reluctantly removed my arms from his neck where they had been resting the entire dance.

"Thank you for the dance. It was surprisingly… enjoyable." I told him, admitting for the first time in my entire life that dancing was fun. Edward grinned, sending my heart on a hammering escapade, and then gave me a small nod.

"It was my pleasure." He said softly, his golden eyes smoldering in the darkness of the room, and I felt, for some odd reason, my cheeks burning hot.

_Air,_ I suddenly thought. _I need some air_. The rooms air supply suddenly didn't feel like it was enough, and I gave Edward a small smile and then shook my head.

"This was really pleasant, but I have to go for a short breath of air. I will be back." Without waiting for him to answer, I turned around and began to push through the crowd towards one of the doors I had seen before. It didn't take long for me to get there, and once I had exited, my surrounding got eerily quiet. All of the laughter, talking and music disappeared as I closed the door behind me, and suddenly I was standing in a dead quiet corridor. I sighed, the silence soothing my feverish mood, and then I started to walk ahead, hoping to find some kind of exit that would lead me outside to the chilly night air.

Images repeatedly entered my head as I walked, images of the dance Edward and I had danced (which hardly helped me to calm down) and I felt how my cheeks got fiery hot. It was so…so different from anything I ever had experienced before. Usually when I danced (actually, always) it was because Caroline wanted me to and forced me to join her, but this time… it felt like only him and I existed in this entire world.

As I had wandered for some time, I began to feel more and more uncertain. I never seemed to get somewhere, and it just felt like I was going around in circles. I sighed, feeling helpless and stupid because of my lack in direction sense, and as I was just about to turn around, I heard a noise ahead. It was some sort of scrambling noise, just like it used to sound when Martha, our chef at home, scrambled around looking for different pots and frying pans. I cautiously continued forward, a little bit afraid of what might be there.

As I came closer to the corner of the hallway, the scrambling noise stopped, and instead of utter silence, a deep and troubled sigh was heard. I stopped once I had reached the corner and there I listened. Muttering sounds were heard and what I could conclude from that was that it was a male person. If it was a vampire or a human I had no idea, but judging by the profanity he continually spat out, he was mad.

Taking a deep breath, mustering my courage, I decided to take a chance. If this person was friendly enough, he might be able to help me back.

I set off around the corner with my heart in my throat, having no idea if I was going to survive, but instead of getting around the corner I bumped right into someone's chest. I flew backwards by the power of our sudden encounter, but before I could hit the ground, a warm hand found its way around my waist and pulled me back up, releasing me once I was up straight. I opened my eyes, which both had closed by the sudden shock, and found myself staring into a pair of deep brown, almost black eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked, frowning at me, and it took me a few seconds too long to respond.

"Y-y-yes…" I stammered shocked, and stared at the man. He was young, perhaps even younger than me, and his skin wasn't ice pale like any vampire onboard but instead russet brown. Silently, I sighed in relief. He wasn't a vampire; that was for sure (I mean, how often do you find a _tanned_ vampire?). His hair was dark and rather short, and instead of wearing fancy clothing like Edward or Mike had, he was wearing a humble, rather dirty white shirt with the arms rolled up to his elbows and black pants. He looked more like a kitchen boy than anything else.

"You…you're not like the others. You're human." He said as his eyes studied me carefully. My eyes widened in surprise by his rather odd choice of words, and then frowned.

"I'm sorry…what?"

"What's your name?" he asked, and I felt baffled.

"How could you expect me to tell you my name? I don't even know who you are! It would only be fair if you told me yours as well." I concluded, determined not to share any information about myself until I found out more about this man.

But to my surprise, he started to chuckle." I'm sorry; my manners aren't my best quality. I'm practically raised by wolves." He snickered, and then bowed respectfully.

"My name is Jacob Black and I am a servant onboard this ship. How may I help you?"

**Playlist: Monster –Paramore **


	8. A Bit of Advice

**A/N: Sorry for not updating, but I hope you all had a great summer! :D  
Thanks vivx-chan and twirob for reviewing; I really appreciate it!  
Now since I haven't updated for a while I'll upload **_**two**_** chapters, just to be nice ;) **

**Chapter 8: A Bit of Advice **

I stared at him, lost for words. It took me quite a long moment to get back my posture and reply him.

"I'm Isabella Swan, but you could just call me Bella." I said, feeling how a blush began to creep upon my cheeks and he smiled friendly back at me.

"Alright Bella, it's a pleasure to meet you. What can I do for you this evening?" he asked, and I gasped as I remembered what my actual goal for tonight was.

"Oh right! I am sorry to trouble you but…" I trailed off, dropping my gaze to my feet and I felt how my cheeks continued to heat uncomfortably. "I'm sort of… lost."

This fact seemed to amuse the boy, and he laughed once again. "You're lost? Well Miss, where were you headed before you lost your way then?" he asked, trying to sound friendly and helpful, but I could hear the mocking beneath his voice, the edge to his tone that was anything but polite.

I glared at him angrily, feeling utterly embarrassed and humiliated, and felt how tears of anger began to fill my eyes. "Thank you very much Mr. Black, but with some afterthought I think I can manage to find my way back myself." And with those words, I stormed off, passing him as fast as I could. I could see the shock in his face as I walked by, but I decided to ignore it. This boy, Jacob, had hurt my pride. I know it was juvenile and probably outright rude, but the only thing I felt for right now was to hurt his pride too.

"Wait!" he called behind me, but I refused to stop. I heard how he began to follow me, his long and swift strides catching up with me most efficiently. He grabbed my arm to stop me, and I swirled around to stare at him.

"What do you want? If all you want is to mock me, go ahead." I growled, all of the anger and frustration spilling over, and a single tear escaped my eye and rolled down my cheek. I quickly wiped it away, hoping Jacob hadn't seen it, but I knew very well that he had. He stared at me apologetically, his guilt obvious.

"I'm…I'm so sorry Bella, please forgive me. I know I behaved extremely rude, especially since I am a servant, and I beg that you will forgive me." He said, his dark eyes shining like a lost puppy's, and I sighed.

"I am sorry too. I'm a little bit on edge tonight." I replied after a small minute of silence so I could cool down. I knew I was acting rude and even though he was mocking me I should've controlled myself better. But the anger I had felt for Caroline when she had forced me to dance still lingered inside of me, and in a desperate act to get it out, I began to bash this young boy for no reason. I sighed once again, and felt how shame and guilt replaced the anger inside of me.

Jacob shook his head, a smile spreading slowly upon his lips, and then he cleared his throat.

"Let us just start everything over." He said, closing his eyes for a few seconds. He then opened them, letting them gaze friendly back at me, and with a gracious smile he stretched his hand towards me.

"Hello, my name is Jacob Black, a fellow servant onboard this ship. May I ask of your name?"

"I'm Isabella Swan." I answered, taking his hand slowly. Without a further warning, he took my hand towards his face instead of shaking it like I had expected, and whilst watching me carefully he planted a soft and gentle kiss on the top of my hand, his smile still intact.

"Hello Miss Swan. Is it alright if I call you Bella?" he asked, and I nodded. "Good. Well, here's the thing Bella, there was a little bird here a moment ago and it told me that you were lost. Is that correct?" he asked, clearly enjoying his little game, and since he seemed to be sincere, I figured that there was no harm in humoring him. Besides, he was sort of amusing in his own way.

"Yes. I was heading out from the party to get some air, but on the way I seemed to get lost." I explained, and Jacob nodded understandingly.

"Do you wish for me to take you outside to the deck? Or would you rather like to return to the party?" He asked, and even though his smile stayed on, I could've sworn I heard his voice darken in the end of his sentence.

I shook my head and sighed. Going back to the outside wasn't really that tempting anymore, and dancing was the last thing I wanted to do at the moment. But dancing with Edward really had been something…

I blushed in embarrassment of the memory, and then took a small breath before I answered Jacob, hoping he hadn't seen my pale cheeks darken in a crimson way.

"I think I would just like to go back to my room, if you don't mind taking me there. I haven't really gotten a hang of the outline of the ship yet." I told him truthfully in small laugh, and he grinned.

"No worries. Where are you staying? I'd be honored to take you."

"Well…" I trailed off, and after a moment of thought I groaned. I had forgotten.

He laughed, realizing my dismay immediately, and gave me a reassuring look. "It's alright. We'll just go to the staffroom and check on the passengers list where your name is registered."

"Would you do that? I don't want to be of any trouble." I told him with a frown. Poor boy, having to take care of a stupid girl like me who couldn't even remember in what room she was staying in.

"It's alright." He told assured me once again with a grin, and together we began to walk towards the staffroom. After a few, short minutes, we were there. Jacob knocked on the door a few times, his fist pounding hard against the door, and after a small moment of silence, the door opened and a small, old man revealed himself in the doorway.

"Jake, it's about time your fucking ass showed up here you piece of shi-"He began to scold angrily, glaring at Jacob darkly, but the second he saw me standing there behind him, he shut his mouth tactfully and looked at me curiously.

"Who's the girl?" The man asked, his tone changed into a milder one. The man was short, even shorter than me, and he was dressed in the same sort of uniform that Jacob was in. His hair, that obviously used to be blonde before it became gray with age, was cut short, nearly shaved, and his eyes were pale blue and full with knowledge. His face was filled with wrinkles, and was hard as stone.

He reminded me of the old men that used to sit in the pubs in my hometown, drinking away all of their money when they all knew damn well that their wives and children needed them. Our town wasn't that poor or a drinking hole for that matter; it had all sorts of people living there. People like Caroline, who were wealthy and rich and mostly lived on their family money, and other people who had to work all days of the week and send their children out in the street to beg for money so they could they could pay the rent for another week. But the way this man stared at me made me realize that he had seen the roads to hell and back and gone through every hardship there might be, and nothing was going to fool him.

"This is Miss Swan. She's returning from the party, but she got lost and now she's forgotten what her room number was." Jacob explained, and the man grinned. "I just need to get the passengers list so I can check where she's staying."

"You're always welcome to stay in my room. I think I have enough room for the both of us in my cot." The man snickered, winking suggest fully at me. I stared at him with wide shocked eyes, and I didn't know if I was supposed to be angry, embarrassed or just outright appalled by his suggestion. Probably all three.

"Shut up Andy, you big drunk." Jake growled and grabbed his collar and went inside, taking the man with him. I waited impatiently where I stood, and I could hear a small thud quickly followed by an angry complaint from the old man. Jacob returned after a few minutes with a list in his hands, and without a second of hesitation he slammed the staffroom door shut and took my hand and began to walk. I immediately followed him, and after a few minutes of silence Jacob sighed and looked at me apologetically.

"Sorry about that; Andy's always rude, just ignore him. He wouldn't know what politeness was even if it came and bit him in his ass. Pardon my language." He excused, but I didn't mind. I just laughed.

"It's okay," I chuckled. "It's not your fault anyway." I smiled at him, and then shook my head. "But really, thank you for doing this, I really appreciate it." I told him for like the millionth time, but he didn't seem to mind.

"It's alright. I have no problem with it really and to be honest, I would feel a lot more relaxed if I helped you with this. Just thinking about _you_, wandering about on _this _boat gives me the creeps."

I looked at him from the corner of my eye. Like he had noticed my gaze, he turned his head around to look at me, and his lips twisted into a smile.

"What?"

"When you say that it would give you the creeps…you're referring to the vampires, aren't you?" I asked, and his smile instantly vanished. He stared at me with hard eyes, and with once stiff nod, he answered.

"Yes." I wasn't exactly surprised that he knew about it, I mean, he was working onboard the ship for god's sake. But it all just felt really odd, like everyone but me knew about the vampires' existence before they stepped onboard. Perhaps I just wished I wasn't the only one who was completely clueless…

"But if you don't like vampires…"I began, and then something came to my mind and I gasped. "You're not being forced to work here are you?" I shrieked, and his eyes widened.

"No. My…_family_ is in debt to one of the more powerful vampires onboard, and they sent me here to work off the debt." He said. His face darkened, and I felt a flash of pity run through my body. He's forced to work here in order to repay a debt his family has, and here I was, bathing in luxury and didn't even have to lift a finger to do anything like a spoiled, rich brat.

"I am so sorry, I had no idea…" I trailed off, and he looked at me with a small smile.

"It's okay, don't worry about it. It's not that bad." He said, his eyes locked with mine. His face became stern again, and his dark eyes blazed with sincerity. "I just don't trust those bloodsuckers; you shouldn't either."

I frowned at his harsh words. "But…all vampires aren't bad. Some of them are really nice, if you give them a chance." I said, thinking of the Cullens' and Caroline. They all had showed me nothing but warmth and kindliness. But of course, I was no fool. I knew his words held some truth. The beast that had killed both of my parents mercilessly, the man I had met on the dock…they were both truly beasts of this world, no doubt about it.

He glared down at me, and I could feel the anger growing inside of him. "Bella, these creatures can't be trusted. They're ruthless, mean and outright cruel, and it's more often than not that they turn on those humans that trust them the most. You _can't_ trust them Bella, you will get killed before you even know it."

"But-" I began, but he interrupted me.

"But nothing. I'm telling you this because you seem like a sweet girl, and I know you don't belong here; you're just a mere human. If you knew what was best for you, you would get off this boat the next time it stays in port and get the hell away from this place and never look back. The only thing this place can offer you is death."

I stared at him with startled eyes, not understanding what he suddenly decided to tell me, and after a few moments of shock, the rage settled in as I realized what he had said.

"How dare you judge them like that! They're all not that bad and Caroline is the most caring, loving person I've ever met, human or not!" I screamed, and at this point I didn't care anymore if I got lost or not. I pulled my hand out of his grip with much more force than necessary, and I met his momentarily stunned eyes with my enraged ones.

"Mr. Black, I will manage to get back to my room from here." I lied through gritted teeth, and I could feel how tears began to fill my eyes in pure rage. "Please don't follow me, and I wish you a pleasant night." I said, but he knew I hoped his night would become nothing but pleasant, and with those words we parted. I walked as quickly as I could manage, my dress flowing with the wind of my pace, and as soon as I knew he was nowhere near me I slowed down. My heart was racing and my breath was coming fast and I tried to breathe as normally as I could, even though it felt like I had a big lump in my chest that refused to go away.

I continued to walk, but now it was slow and aimlessly. My rage faded the further I walked, and instead, an uncontrollable wave of sorrow replaced it. Tears began to flow down my cheeks, but I made no attempts to stop them. Jacob's words ran through my head over and over again, replaying a thousand times over, and instead of feeling enraged, I felt hurt, like a thousand knives were stabbing me.

I continued to walk down the corridor I was in, trapped alone with my own confused thoughts, and I was just about to walk around the corner when I heard something behind me. I turned around with a gasp, my heart skipping a beat in surprise, and when I saw who was behind me, I let out the breath I was holding in relief.

"Edward! You scared me half to death!" I said once I was breathing normally, and he watched me with worried and concerned eyes. He was still dressed in the nice suit I had seen him in earlier at the ball, but his hair was arranged messily, and his eyes had dark rings under them, like he hadn't slept properly in months. But then a small voice in the back of my head reminded me grimly that he couldn't sleep, that he would never be able to sleep and that those rings were signs of hunger. Hunger for _blood_.

I shivered at the thought of it, but then chastised myself for fearing his intentions. His eyes still had a hint of yellow in them, and I knew for a fact that Edward wasn't here to eat me. Stupid brain.

Edward stepped towards me, closing the small gap that was between us, and then placed his arms around me, enclosing me into a soft, gently hug. I was surprised by his sudden action, not anticipating it at all, and after a few short seconds of pure bliss, he let me go. The shield of his arms had made me feel safe, forgetting all of my worries and fears, and the second he let me go I restrained myself not to throw myself back into his arms.

"Bella, are you alright? You are crying. Are you hurt?" He asked as he caressed my cheek carefully, like I was a porcelain doll, easily to be broken.

"I-I'm fine." I sobbed, wiping away the rest of the wetness on my face, but I knew it was a lost cause. "I'm not hurt, don't worry. I'm just…a little shaken, that's all." I told him, not wanting to tell him about my conversation with the strange and quite rude Mr. Black whom I had just met, and I immediately decided not to tell him that I even met him.

"You are not fine; I can see the sadness in your eyes." He said, his eyes boring into mine with such intensity that I had to look away. Edward gathered his arms around me once again, letting my head rest against his chest, and this time I couldn't resist it anymore. My tears began to flow freely, and I began to sob silently against his chest, probably ruining his shirt in the progress. But he didn't seem to care, so neither did I.

"We were all so worried. After our dance, you just disappeared." Edward began to talk softly to me, his silky smooth voice soothing me instantly like a lullaby would for an infant. "Caroline became worried, but Carlisle told her not to, that you would return within time. But as time passed, you never did. I slipped away from the party without anyone else noticing, and then I began to look for you. I…I've never felt like this. Not knowing where you were…it made me anxious. It wasn't until now that I found you."

"I'm sorry I worried you." I told him in a whisper, my voice thick with tears. "I got lost."

My explanation was apparently no surprise, because I felt how he chuckled softly, his chest moving as he did. "Caroline thought that might've been the case."

"Well, she was right." I said grimly, feeling stupid. Why couldn't I just find my way like everyone else?

He didn't say anything else after that, and instead we stood together in silence with me resting in his arms. His whole being was soothing; like he was the antidote I needed for my cursed sadness. I stood in his arms for what felt like hours, but finally I couldn't take it anymore, and I released myself from his hold. He instantly let me go, and I wiped my face once again. I knew I probably looked more similar to a clown than anything else at the moment with all of my makeup smudged around my face, but bless his heart that he wasn't laughing. I took a look where my head had rested and felt a pang of guilt.

"Sorry for ruining your shirt." I told him gently, feeling mighty embarrassed about it, but he just shook his head. "I probably look ridiculous."

"Don't worry about it. And you will never look ridiculous to me, even if you try." Edward said with a warm smile, and his words made a rush of heat creep over my cheeks. I looked down at my feet silently, not knowing how to respond to his heartwarming words.

Edward cleared his throat, and then spoke in a quiet voice. "Let's head back, Caroline is worried sick about you." He said, his eyes not meeting mine. I could see he was trying to smooth over the sudden tension in the air, but he wasn't succeeding. I took a deep breath, and then sighed.

"Sure, let's go."

The walk to our cabin was unvoiced. Edward didn't say much after that, and I didn't really feel that keen to hold up the conversation, so the air stayed silent. I did catch him glancing at me from the corner of my eye from time to time, but as soon as I looked at him, his gaze focused ahead.

Soon, we reached the similar corridor where my and Caroline's room was, and when I had 10 meters to the door, I saw vaguely how it opened, and then suddenly, I was entwined in a suffocating hug.

"I was _so_ worried!" Caroline cried tearlessly in my ear, her arms staying tight around me, and I gasped in surprise. "You just disappeared! I had _no_ idea where you where or who you were with! Don't you understand how dangerous this was? Can't you grasp the seriousness of this? You could've gotten yourself killed, Bella! _Killed_!"

"Can't. Breathe." I gasped, and with the sudden _swoosh_ of the wind, I was suddenly inside of our cabin, lying down in my own comfortable bed. Caroline was sitting on the side of my bed, and Edward was standing behind her.

"Are you alright? Honey, you've been crying!" Caroline's face whitened in horror, her eyes wide with shock, and then her expression darkened. "Who hurt you? Who was it? I will make them pay for what they did." She swore darkly, her face twisted with murderous rage.

"Miss Caroline!" I exclaimed, horrified by her sudden threat, knowing she had the capacity to do it, and then shivered at just the thought. Jacob may have been rude, but I would not get him killed for my stupid actions and emotions.

"No one did anything to me! I just got lost when I went out to get some air, and then I became worried and began to panic. If it wasn't for Edward, I would've wandered around the boat the entire night." I told her, hoping she hadn't detected the lie in my story, but luckily my voice was all saggy from the fatigue I felt so even I believed it when I heard my slow, tired voice speak. This emotional rollercoaster had really made me tired.

Caroline watched wordlessly, her worried eyes still not relaxed by my presence, and after a small moment of silence, she spoke. "I think you should get yourself some rest now, you look exhausted. We will talk in the morning." She leaned forward and gave me a small kiss on my forehead, and then, she was suddenly in the doorway.

"Goodnight Bella." She said, and then she gave Edward a hard meaningful look before she exited the room. I turned my gaze to Edward, who had stepped closer to the bed to take Caroline's place, and I was just about to open my mouth to thank him for everything, when he hushed me quiet.

"Don't worry, we'll speak in the morning." He said reassuringly, smiling slightly.

His eyes watched me carefully, both of them filled with concern and fondness, something I hadn't noticed before, and then our eyes met. His eyes locked with mine, making it impossible for me to look away, and then, slowly, he bent over and kissed me. The kiss was soft and tender, but the explosion of emotion it left behind was anything but mild. Warmth filled my entire body, and before my lips had any chance to respond, he moved away. He was as breathless as I, his face inches from mine, but none of us moved. I could hardly see his eyes in the darkness of the room, but I knew he was staring directly into mine. We stayed like that for a long moment, no one making a sound or moving away from each other, just him and I, our faces inches closer than ever. But finally, Edward moved away, standing up straight and looking at me with puzzled eyes, like he couldn't believe what he had just done. That made two of us.

"Goodnight Bella." He said in a strangled voice, and then, he left me alone in the darkness of my room. I breathed deeply, surprised and quite shocked about what had happened, but I knew deep inside that I was happy.

I took off my dress and after I had washed my face in the bathroom (which _had_ looked ridiculous; Edward was a big liar) I slipped into my nightgown and retired to bed. It took me a while to relax (every time I thought of the kiss I went into hyperventilation), but after a lot of effort, I finally managed to fall asleep. But unfortunately, none of my dreams were as sweet as Edward's kiss. Not by a long shot.

**Playlist: Happily Ever After – He Is We**


	9. Emotional Overdose

**Chapter 9: Emotional Overdose**

I groaned as I slowly opened my eyes and closed them back shut when the light hit them. It was morning,_ finally_. I sat up slowly whilst yawning, stretching my muscles all over my body, and then sighed. My sleep had been filled with one nightmare after another, all of them containing some kind of bloodthirsty beast, and in the end I was always killed, forced to wake up in my own empty, dark bedroom, sweating and shivering all over. This happened over and over again, and as I finally woke up in the morning, I felt even more tired than I had been when I fell asleep the night before.

_The night before when Edward kissed me…_My mind reminded me giddily, and I couldn't stop the smile that began to creep upon my lips. I felt how my face heated from the memory, and that made me smile even more. Had it really happened? I touched my lips thoughtfully, remembering how his cold lips had caressed it gently…

A knock was heard from the other side of the door, taking me back to the present, and I jumped and gasped in surprise. "Are you awake, Miss?" A female voice called, probably someone from the human staff, and I cleared my throat before I answered.

"Ah, yes."

The door slowly opened, and the young woman entered carefully. Her hair was blonde and incredibly curly, almost frizzy, and her brown eyes looked extremely tired as they focused on me. "Miss Gray asked me to prepare you for breakfast."

"It's alright, I can do it myself." I told her, not wanting to be of any trouble, but she shook her head, looking like she wanted to groan.

"She told me you would say that. I am sorry, but Miss Gray is insisting I should help." The woman replied, looking even more annoyed. It was clear this was not usually her morning task. I felt bad for the woman, but I did not want to anger Caroline more than necessary. I knew she would be on edge for our talk, but I had hoped she would've had the night to calm down at least a little bit.

"Alright then." I said uncertainly, and the woman got herself to work. She gave me a quick bath, and after she was sure I had gotten clean, she helped me get dressed. I gasped as she tightened my corset (which she insisted I had to wear; all proper ladies did), and when she was done, I was only breathing with half of my lungs. The woman, named Gracie, picked out a long and elegant, green dress for me to wear, way to flashy and showy for my taste, and when she was done fixing my hair and makeup, I felt like a complete different woman.

"There, all done." Gracie said, and I thought I could hint a smile in the edge of her lips. I looked myself in the mirror, studying the reflection that stared back at me, and I was just about to thank her for all of her help when a growling noise broke the silence. I blushed and held a hand on my stomach, which continued to complain loudly, and Gracie sighed.

"Please follow me Miss Swan, Miss Gray is waiting for you." She said dully, and then opened the door and walked out, knowing I would follow. As promised, Caroline was waiting for me in the living room, and as soon as I had entered the room, she rose from her seat and greeted me with a gentle smile.

"Bella, my dear." She said simply, patting my cheek softly. I could tell something was different. Even though she treated me as she always did, there was something off. Her smile wasn't as bright as it usually was, not quite reaching her eyes. And her voice had an edge in it that was anything but happy and blissful. Under the surface, it was cold and miserable. She turned to look at Gracie, and all the compassion she had held for me wiped off from her face, and it became hard and ice cold, and her true mood showed.

"Leave us." She commanded, and Gracie, not needing anybody to tell her twice, quickly left the room, closing the door behind her. Caroline turned back to me, and once again a smile was plastered on her face, hiding her discontent that she felt for some reason.

"Please, sit." She said, pointing at the small table I had eaten at the morning before. I walked over there slowly with small, uncertain steps and I heard how Caroline disappeared behind me in super speed. The second I sat down in my seat, she appeared before me, holding a large, silver tray filled with delicious smelling food, and I felt how my mouth began to water by just looking at it.

"Here, I got you this from the kitchen. Everything is freshly baked and cooked." She told me evenly as she placed it before me, and when I didn't dig in right away she giggled.

"Come on Bella, eat! I can hear your stomach growling from over here." She joked, a sincere smile breaking through, and I smiled back, relieved. I did not know what was bothering her so much, but I knew better than to ask. She would tell me if she wanted me to know.

I took a piece of bread from the basket on the tray, and as I began to decorate it with butter, ham, cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, Caroline watched me thoughtfully.

"You had me real worried last night." She finally said, breaking the silence. I stopped in my morning ritual to look at her, but the intensity of her stare made me look away.

"I'm sorry." I told her, taking a bite from my sandwich that I had made, and I could feel the glare that I was receiving.

"You're sorry? Bella, do you have any idea how much worry you put me through last night? You just disappeared!" I looked up to see her stare at me expectantly, waiting for me to give her an answer, and I sighed. Caroline was one of the most stubborn people I knew. She was as sweet as sugar both inside and out, but the second she wanted to know something, she was not giving up until she knew it.

"I just wanted to get some fresh air. So I left the party and decided to go to outside just for a minute, but I got lost." I told her truthfully, not wanting to mention Jacob and his opinions about vampires. Caroline studied me carefully, knowing I was still not telling her something.

"But you were crying!" She exclaimed, her face twisting into an unhappy grimace. "Something more happened that you're not telling me!" she accused me, and I looked down at the tray, avoiding her eyes.

"It…" I began, but stopped myself. What was I going to say? If I mentioned Jacob, he would get into trouble, and I didn't want to do that to someone, no matter how rude or mean they had been to me. He was only worried for my sake, and he did try to help me back to my room.

"It was nothing. I just became lost and met a few rude people, that's all." I concluded. Caroline froze in her seat, seeming to be shocked over what she was hearing, and then her jaw hardened and I could see that she was clenching her fist underneath the table.

"Who? _Who_ did you meet?" She pressed, her eyes blazing with anger.

"I don't know! It was just some human servants who worked on the boat. It doesn't matter." I said, shrugging. I took another bite out of my sandwich and chewed thoroughly.

"It _does_ matter, to me it does!" Caroline disagreed, pouting. "No one should upset my Bella and get away with it." she said darkly, and I felt how a chill crawled down my spine, making me shiver all over.

"Caroline, please." I pleaded. "It's no big deal. I've met far more unpleasant people back home in the town; this was nothing. I…I must've been a little bit drunk or something." I said, lying straight through my teeth. I hadn't drunken something, but Caroline didn't know that and she wouldn't know it either.

"You…did you consume alcohol yesterday?" She asked, her face looking slightly surprised, but the hardness in it told me that she was still skeptical. I was no liar; I couldn't even convince myself when I lied to others, and since Caroline knew me better than anyone else, convincing her was not easily done.

"Well, eh, yeah. You know the human servant we met before? Mike? I met him at the ball, and he offered me a drink of champagne, so I figured it was rude to say no."

"Bella…" Caroline sighed, shaking her head to herself. "I will let it go for now, but some day you _will_ tell me what happened last night, you hear?" She said, and I couldn't tell if she had bought my horrible lie or not. I would probably bet on the latter.

I nodded, and then took my cup from the tray and took a sip. The warm tea slipped down my throat, and I smiled at the familiar taste. I took another clunk, and I was just about to swallow when Caroline spoke.

"So…I heard you and Edward kissed last night." She said matter-of-factly, an edge of irritation hiding in her voice. I spurted out the tea I had in my mouth, splashing the table with the tea and then began to cough manically as I accidently managed to swallow some.

"W-w-what?" I stammered, my voice weak from the shock. "How-?" I began to ask, but she interrupted me.

"You forget that I'm a vampire, Bella. Our hearing abilities are much more sensitive than any human's." She told me grimy, tapping her finger on the tip of her ear, and her hard face told me she was not happy about this discovery. "So..."she asked harshly, obviously wanting me to elaborate.

"So…I don't know! It just happened! We were talking and he was smiling and...and then he just leaned down and kissed me…" I almost whispered, a blush creeping upon my lips.

"Bella!" Caroline groaned, burying her face in her hands and then sighed. "You only met the guy like…3 times! How could you have kissed him? This is moving way too fast!"

"It just happened…" I tried to say defensively, but it came out as a weak excuse instead.

"It just _happened_? Bella things like this _can't _just happen, especially with people like us! If this had happened with that stupid servant Mike, It wouldn't have mattered. You know why? Because he's a _human_. But Edward isn't! He's a _vampire_, a _killer_; we all are! Don't you see that you are too special to me for anything to happen to you? You can't just go and _kiss _a vampire whenever you feel like it! We're killers Bella! You can't trust Edward; he can end your life in seconds! We're _dangerous_ to you humans, and it's no_-_."

I don't know what happened, but something in me just snapped. Maybe it was all of the pressure. Maybe I had taken Jacobs words to heart more than I had thought. Or maybe I had been given too much information too fast. I dropped my cup from my hands, letting in clatter onto the tray with a bang, smashing it to pieces, and then rose from my seat so fast that the chair fell to the floor behind me.

"_Enough_!" I shouted in a loud voice, silencing Caroline immediately. I had never raised my voice that loudly: never._ Especially_ not near Caroline. "One day, you say that I should trust you all and that there's nothing to fear! And the next day you say that you can't be trusted and that you're all killers that are dangerous! What _is it_ exactly!" I didn't wait for her to answer me, and instead I rushed to the door and closed it behind me with a bang. I stood still in the corridor for a long time, not moving, just breathing deeply. A tear had escaped my eye in my frustration, and I wiped it away furiously. I had too much pride to go back inside and apologize for my sudden outburst, so instead I started to go down the corridor in a fast phase, trying to keep my mind blank, but after I had walked aimlessly for a while, it was impossible to keep the thoughts away.

Jacob's words began to repeat themselves again, but this time they were mirrored with Caroline's, both of them chiming with perfect harmony.

_They can't be trusted. Vampire's are killers, Bella. _

I felt a rush of rage wash over me. How could Caroline say that to me! She was a vampire herself, wasn't she? Was I not supposed to trust her too? Or did that only apply to boys kissing me?

I let a ragged breath out, and then I did what every girl would, feeling confused, frustrated and angry all at the same time; I cried.

"Hey! Bella, I was just about to go to your room! I was wondering if-" A voice called ahead, and when I looked up, I saw how Mike Newton approached me swiftly with a brilliant smile. He dropped his smile though when he got a chance to look at me, and he frowned with concern and looked at me uncertainly.

"Hey…are you alright?" he asked carefully, not wanting to upset me more, and reached down in his pocket to fish out a handkerchief. He reached it to me, and I smiled gratefully.

"Thank you." I said dabbing my eyes. I lowered the handkerchief and felt how relief washed over me when no makeup showed on it. Really, I had to stop crying in corridors in front of men I hardly knew with makeup on. If I didn't, soon I would probably adapt the nickname 'The clown'.

"What's the matter? What happened?" He asked, carefully putting an arm around my shoulders.

"I…I just had a fight with Caroline…"I said, feeling how all of the rage died out, leaving me upset and just confused. I stifled another sob, and then told myself harshly that I _would not_ cry.

"Oh my! Are …you alright?" He gasped, his blue eyes widening with concern.

"Yeah," I told him quietly. "I just want to get out of here, go somewhere quiet and calm down." I told him honestly, and he nodded his head in comprehension.

"Alright. Okay." He said, nodding his head. I could see in his eyes that he was scanning the ship in his mind for a place for us to go. Then, his face lit up, and a grin appeared on his lips and he looked at me.

"I know just a place."

Mike led me through the corridors, making small talk the whole way, but I didn't listen that well. I was stuck in my thoughts concerning the fight between Caroline and me so I didn't join in with his cheerful talk. But he didn't seem to mind; he chatted on happily, telling me about the ship, about him, or commenting on the weather. His meaningless talk soothed me some, calming me down from my hysteria, and when we reached our destination, I was calm and tranquil.

Mike opened a door that looked like it belonged to the staff, and as we stepped inside, I realized it had to be one of their break rooms. There were a few small, white tables with chairs arranged around the room, and next to the door there were a few cupboards, a stove, a refrigerator and a coffee machine.

I looked over Mike's shoulder, inspecting the room for myself, and just when I was about to sigh in relief to the knowledge that the room was empty, I saw a familiar face sitting in the corner of the room, sipping on something in a cup. His eyes rose from a paper he was reading dully, focusing them on the two of us who had just entered the room, and when he saw me standing behind Mike, a teasing grin crept upon his face.

"Well would you look at that, Miss Isabella returns." He said teasingly, and Mike turned to look back and forth between the two of us.

"You know her?" He asked him as he rose from his seat, folding his paper and placing it on the table, and then began to walk towards us with slow, wobbly steps. As he came closer, I wrinkled my nose. I could smell the alcohol all the way from there, and I made a small guess that his cup wasn't containing only coffee.

He laughed gruffly as he came closer, and wiggled his eyebrows at me.

"Better than you would think." He said with a suggestive wink, and I resisted the urge to groan.

"Don't go and lie to me, Andy." Mike said in a voice that he tried to make strong and powerful, but we all could hear the uncertainty he felt beneath the surface.

Andy laughed again, and then moved his gaze to me.

"Yesterday Jacob and now Mike? You sure move on fast, lady." He told me, and before I could respond, Mike roared in anger.

"Get out of here you drunkard!" I could see him blush in anger from where I stood, and judging from Andy's surprised reaction, Mike wasn't the kind of person who got angry easily.

"Alright, kid." He said in defeat, and then passed us, muttering all kinds of profanities. We waited until Andy had gone out the door and closed it behind it, and as soon as I was sure we were alone, I sighed.

"Sorry about that, Andy isn't right in the head." Mike smiled apologetically, and I shook my head.

"No worries. I see what you mean." I went and sat down in one of the seats at the closest table, and Mike followed my example and sat down in the opposite seat. The room fell into silence for a few short seconds, but Mike didn't seem to like it, and spoke.

"So…you know Jacob Black?" he asked conversationally, trying to look nonchalant, but I could see that he was quite interested to know the answer.

"Yeah, sort of." I said, getting glum again just by thinking about him. "I got lost after the party yesterday, and he helped me get back." I told Mike, not wanting to get into any details, and Mike sighed in relief.

"Wow. That's good! And here I thought-" He stopped himself in mid sentence and looked at me with eyes that screamed 'Oh-shit-I-said-something-I-shouldn't-have' and he blushed. "Eh, nothing. Forget I said anything." He said, flustered.

I shrugged, trying to look careless, but underneath the surface I was dying to laugh. Mike was surely one of a kind. He wasn't tactful or gracious like the other boys I had met in my life; he was awkward and flustered, never saying the right things. It was almost amusing, looking how he was all over the place, trying to do the right thing, but I hadn't fallen so low that I laughed at others at their extent. He was a sweet boy…sort of. I just had no interest in him whatsoever, not in a romantic way anyway.

_You like Edward,_ my mind told me, making me remember the kiss that had accrued last night, and I felt how a blush blossomed upon my cheeks, heating my face uncomfortably.

"I-I-I'll get you something to eat." Mike stuttered, suddenly out of his seat in a record time and then he stumbled over to the kitchen-area before I could tell him that I already had eaten. The thoughts of Edward had made me depressed once again, thinking of how Caroline had screamed at me at the breakfast table this morning, and I resisted the urge to cry. _I won't cry._

Mike returned to the table after a few minutes, holding two sandwiches in his hands, but as he saw my moody face, his happy face faltered. He sat down in his seat, and after a moment of awkward silence, he held up the meal to me.

"Sandwich?" he offered, not knowing what to say to console me, but I shook my head. Eating was the last thing I wanted to do at the moment.

We sat there for a while, Mike eating and talking (sometimes at the same time) and me sitting there, listening to him. Mike seemed to like the attention, knowing that someone was listening to him for once, and he happily chattered on about everything and nothing. This continued for a while to the point I actually thought I would fall asleep in my seat because I was so bored, and just as I thought about going back to Miss Caroline, the door spun open with a bang, and small, familiar vampire entered the room.

"Alice, what are you doing here?" I exclaimed in surprise, and rose from my seat automatically.

"You need to come with me. It's Caroline." She begged, her worried eyes fixed on mine with a sincere expression in her face. I felt how all of the blood in my face disappeared, and I stared at her with horror. My heart, which had been fine a second ago, began to beat erratically in my chest, and my breaths came faster and faster.

"What?" I managed to gasp, and I felt how my hands began to shake unsteadily.

"Come on, we don't have much time!" Alice said impatiently, and stretched out her hand towards me in an invitation to come with her.

"What's going on here?" Mike asked, looking at Alice with a confused expression. Alice turned to look at him with annoyed eyes, and spoke in a acidly voice.

"It does not concern you, human." She said, and Mike instantly shut his mouth. Alice turned back to me, and it was obvious that she was losing her patience now.

"Please Bella, we have to hurry." She pleaded, and I looked into her yellow eyes. Jacob's words began to swim inside my head once again, but I shook my head, like the action would shake off the thoughts with it. _Enough, _I thought. I'll trust whoever I want, and right now, that person was Alice.

I took her outstretched hand, and in a fast motion, she dragged me out of the room faster before you could say 'French Baguette'.

"Close your eyes," she commanded as we were outside the break room, her stern eyes boring into mine. I immediately did what she asked, and before I knew it, Alice had lifted me into her arms and wind was blowing around us. I gasped in surprise, opening my eyes again, and I could see how our surroundings moved past us in a furious phase. After a few seconds I realized that it was Alice who was running with me in her arms, and the discovery made me puzzled.

"Close your eyes Bella." Alice said again, and I brought my eyes up to her face. She looked down at my face, like she had known I didn't have my eyes closed, and she raised her eyebrow. "You'll feel sick otherwise." She said, and realizing she said it for my benefit, I shut them closed again and focused to keep them that way. Fighting the urge not to open my eyes was hard, but luckily for me, the transportation was over before I knew it. The ripples of air suddenly stopped, and I hesitantly opened my eyes to assure that we had stopped completely.

"There," Alice said, smiling back at me as I opened my eyes, and carefully, not wanting to jostle me, she placed me on the ground, right side up, and led me to the door of our cabin. Before I could ask anything, I heard a loud crash from the inside that made me jump and move away from the door in fear, but Alice placed a hand on my back reassuringly and looked at me.

"It's alright. Nothing will happen that will hurt you; I can see it." Alice said, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused for a moment. I looked back at the door, swallowing in fear. I could hear the ruckus in there, things smashing, ripping in pieces… But then I heard Caroline's cry; a sad and heartbreaking sound, and that's when I knew I had to do this.

I opened the door and stepped inside, but as soon as I was in, I froze in my steps. All over the room, things were flying around in the air. Books, pillows, papers, teacups, the sofa, the bookcase… you name it. Everything you could think of that was in the room was floating airborne, and as I hesitantly stepped forward, trying to avoid the mess around me, I heard Caroline's sheer cry in the other room. I hurried over there, getting hit in the head by a flying book that was in my way, and when I reached the doorway, I spotted her. She was sitting in the middle of the room on the floor, her head hanging low in a depressed state, and I saw how her body shook as she sobbed.

"Caroline…?" I called hesitantly, but I got no response.

"She's been like this ever since you left her. I hurried over here in hope to help, but she didn't even acknowledge that I was there. She just cried." Alice told me in a small whisper behind me, staring at Caroline with worried eyes.

"Caroline, it's me; Bella." I tried again, walking until I was a meter away from her. She looked up, her dark red hair hanging as a curtain in front of her face, hiding it from me, and I carefully sat down on my knees beside her, my eyes focused on her face the entire time.

"Bella…"She said in a broken whisper, her sobs coming to a halt, and she stretched out her hand towards my face, caressing it carefully. "Bella," She repeated, this time a little bit stronger, and as her face came closer to mine, I could see her eyes through the curtain of hair; they were dark.

A shill of fright came over me, making me tense all over, but even though I reassured myself that Alice had told me that nothing would happen that would harm me, I felt a shiver go down my spine.

"Bella!" Caroline finally exclaimed, her voice in a normal volume, and she threw herself at me, hugging me to her firmly yet still careful not to harm me. I brought my arms to her back and patted her consolingly, and I felt how she began to sob again.

"I'm sorry Bella! I'm so, so, _so_ sorry!" She said, repeating it over and over again. "It's just that you mean so much to me that I wouldn't be able to bear it if anything hurt you! And when I heard about you and Edward I couldn't help it! I know what vampires can do, what _I _can do, and I worried if you and Edward-"She cried and I hushed her quiet in a soft voice. Her voice was on the edge of hysteria, and I knew if I didn't calm her down now, things would start flying around the room.

"There. It's alright Caroline, It's alright. I forgive you." I murmured, stroking her hair softly. She huddled closer to me, hugging me to her as closely as she could, and I felt how she quietly sobbed her tearless cries. We stayed like that for a long time, she and I. I had closed my eyes so I didn't have to see the utter mess in the room, but I knew it still lingered there, soaring around me. I thought of our argument as I held her in my arms, and the more I thought it through, the sillier I thought it was. Jacob's words _had _upset me even though they shouldn't have, and because of that, I completely overreacted when Caroline stated her opinion about Edward and me. She was right in a few aspects. Kissing a man that I've only met a couple of times was insane, absurd even (no proper lady would've done such a thing; but on the other hand, I was hardly a proper lady). But even so, I was _my _choice, and Caroline knew that as well as I did.

Caroline's sobs finally stopped after what felt like hours, and I opened my eyes and moved away from her so I could get a good look at her face. Unlike humans, vampires shed no tears, and as I stared at her flawless façade, I saw no signs of her ever crying. Her eyes weren't red and puffy like mine would've been, but I _did_ notice that they were awfully dark. I had never seen her eyes in that kind of deep, dark shade before, and as her gaze slowly met mine, I could see the slight hunger in them.

"Bella," Caroline whispered with a vague smile on her lips and caressed my cheek gently.

"Caroline, I think it would be for the best if we went over to the feeding quarter now." Alice suddenly said behind me, her voice sounding slightly strained, and when I turned to look at her, I saw how her yellow eyes stared blankly back at me.

"Yes, you're right. I believe that's for the best." Caroline agreed, her voice coming out in nothing more but a weak whisper. Suddenly, my arms were cradled around nothing in the air, and they fell down in my lap with a thud. I looked around confused, not understanding really what had happened, and as I did, I was shocked about what I saw. The room was in complete order, not a trace of the former chaos I had witnessed. I realized a second later that Caroline must've cleaned up the mess as I had held her, using her gift to shape the room into order.

"Bella," Caroline called, and I turned to see her and Alice standing in the doorway. "I need to go and feed, but I will be back as soon as I can." She assured me. Then, with the _swoosh_ of the wind the two vampires disappeared, leaving me alone, sitting in the middle of the room on the floor.

I remained there for a while, not moving from my spot on the floor. The silence of the room was blissful and soothing to my heavy head that was full of all of my thoughts, and finally, knowing I had to get up at some point, I rose from the ground, straightening my dress and wiping off the dust and dirt from it in the progress, and then decided on a whim that I wanted to take a shower.

I slowly walked to my room and when I had closed the door behind me, I started removing the green fashionable dress from my body, letting it slip off me gently. Removing the corset was another story. Usually, I had help when I removed my corset, but since I was alone, I had to improvise. Reaching behind my back, I tried to untie the knots Gracie had tied this morning, causing this uncomfortable prison around my lungs, and after a lot of trying, I finally managed to untie the knots and I felt how the corset loosened in a soothing way.

The shower was long. The hot water sprayed down on me, loosening my tense muscles, and I sighed happily as I felt completely calm in both body and soul. There was nothing like a hot shower to calm me down. I stayed in there for a long time, letting the steam fill the room, clouding the mirror above the sink with mist, and when I finally realized I had to get out before Caroline got back, I reluctantly turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, fetching a towel. I glanced at the mirror, and when I became disappointed that I couldn't see my reflection, I wiped away the mist to reveal my own image. There I was, standing in front of my bathroom mirror in a towel, my hair wet and tangled and my face relaxed. But I was happy. I recognized the woman looking back at me, catching my tired yet content gaze. The unrecognizable woman I had seen this morning was gone, disappeared. That frightened and confused person was no more. She had been washed away in the drain together with the water.

I stepped out of the bathroom, drying my hair with another towel, and as I looked up, I shrieked and jumped in surprise.

"Geez! Don't scare me like that! You could've knocked or something!" I yelled accusingly at Alice, who was standing in the middle of the room, her hands crossed above her chest.

"Sorry. You took so long in the shower I figured I could wait here." She said apologetically, her yellow eyes meeting my brown ones, and it took me a few deep breaths to calm myself down again.

"What are you doing in here? Have you returned with Caroline?" I asked as I walked over to the closet, looking for something to wear. I had no idea how much time had passed since both of them had left, but I figured it had been a while.

"No, I came by myself. Caroline is still feeding." She told me as I rummaged through my closet after something comfortable to wear. I took out a blue dress I had gotten from Caroline last Christmas, and after quickly getting dressed in some undergarments, I slipped the dress on. Alice waited patiently, sitting on the edge of my bed.

"I apologize if this sounds rude, but why are you here then?" I asked, confused with her purpose coming here.

Alice smiled at me with warm eyes, and then in seconds transformed into a giggly schoolgirl. "I came because of my brother." She said, and I felt how I froze in all of my movements. _She came because of Edward? If that's the case then she knows…_

She saw how I tensed, which made her giggle even more, and she patted on the bed beside her in an inviting motion for me to sit as well. I sat down slowly, staring at her with confused eyes, and her giggles slowly ended, leaving a huge smile on her face.

"He doesn't know I'm here, but I wanted to tell you this now before it's too late. I know what happened between you last night." She began, and when she saw my intake of air, she continued quickly. "And before you say anything, let me finish. I know about it, and I just wanted to say that no matter what Caroline says or thinks, _I _think this is great."

I stared at her in confusion, not really believing my ears, and as soon as my brain had registered the words, I blushed furiously. "But…but it was just _one_ kiss! That doesn't mean anythi-"

"Oh, but it will." She said, smiling gleefully. "I can see it. It may not happen now, but somewhere in the future, I can see the two of you together. Caroline is opposing the idea because of all of the danger your relationship may bring, but she does not know my brother the way I know him. He will do anything in his power to keep you safe, both from himself and from others." She promised me confidently. She patted my hand where it laid in my lap, and then she rose from her seat.

"I have to go now," She announced, her eyes staring at something far away, completely unfocused for a short moment before they snapped back into the present and stared down at me. "But remember this; despite of what Caroline may say, my brother is an honorable man. A man you could grow into loving." With those words she left me.

**Playlist: Shelter - Birdy**


	10. A Relaxing Breakfast

**Chapter 10: A Relaxing Breakfast**

I tightened the hold on my bouquet made out of different colored roses and smiled. My white, flowing dress was the most beautiful garment I'd ever seen, decorated with pearls and beads and as I stared back at myself in the mirror, I really saw the blushing bride-to-be that I was.

"It's time!" Caroline chimed happily, taking my hand and leading me away from the makeup area, and in no time we were standing in front of the large double doors leading to the church.

"Good luck." She wished, and after giving me a swift kiss on the cheek, she disappeared. I looked around me, wondering where she could've disappeared to, but she was nowhere to be seen. How strange…

"My child, are you ready?" A voice called from behind. I turned around, and when I saw the face of my father, I squealed in happiness and threw myself in his arms, making myself look like I was 6 years old all over again.

"There, there. All is well. Shall we proceed? It is your wedding day after all." Charlie smiled, and I nodded in agreement. He extended his arm towards me, letting me slip my hand around it, and just as I thought I was ready, the doors opened. Light overflowed around me, blinding me for a second, but soon, I saw my surroundings. The church was small yet still breathtakingly beautiful. The walls were covered with vines and moss and the air smelled like nature, like the church hadn't been used in hundreds and hundreds of years. The ceiling had collapsed many years ago, so instead of the stony ceiling covering us, the sky and sun greeted me instead.

In the still preserved tree-benches sat our audience. They were people I knew, or whom I at least thought looked familiar. Neighbors from our town, friends from my childhood, Jessica and some of the other servants… And then, there was this pale group of people I didn't recognize. All of them sat in the protection of the shade, and as they saw me walking down the aisle, they smiled. They were beautiful, all of them standing out from the others like they were gods in human guises, and the second I met their golden eyes, they smiled contently. I frowned, not recognizing any of them, even though they looked slightly familiar, like someone I had seen in a distant dream, and as I finally came to the end of the aisle, my steps came to a stop and I looked up to meet the eyes of my husband-to-be. That's when everything in the world froze.

"Welcome my beautiful bride." Edward said with a smirk as he took my hand from my father and kissed it gently, his cold skin meeting my warm one. "Finally, you've come to be mine…" He said seductively, and without a warning, he let go of my hand and leaned towards my neck, his lips almost touching it, and his tone sank to a whisper. "Forever." Then, too fast for me to absorb it, he sunk his teach down into my skin ruthlessly and drank gleefully as I screamed in fear and pain…

I woke up screaming. The heavy curtains were covering my window, so I had no idea what the time was. I panted for air, still freaked out about the dream, and buried my head into my hands.

After Alice's short visit yesterday, my mind had been chaotic. I had stayed together with Caroline in the suite the rest of the day, trying to act normal as we had some 'girl time' together as she neatly called it (Meaning, she brought me some sweets and snacks from the kitchen and then we sat in front of the burning fire in the living room, doing each others hair and talking about everything). I _did _have a good time. We did talk about our fight, even though I wanted to avoid it at first, but once we were done, I felt much better.

Caroline's easygoing nature made me forget about Alice's words and made it possible for me to enjoy myself. But the second she left the room for a small moment, my mind instantly began to recall it over and over again, making me go insane.

I sighed at the memory and was just about to collapse into to the bed again when I heard a firm knock on my door.

"Bella, I heard you screaming. Are you alright?" Caroline's concerned voice called from the other side of the door. When I didn't answer her right away, she opened the door slightly, peeking through the opening, and when our eyes met, I saw how she relaxed a little.

"I'm fine, I just had a bad dream." I told her with a strained smile, the weirdness of the dream still lingering in my head, and I shook my head just thinking about it. "What time is it?" I asked, wondering if it was all right for me to get up or if I should go back to sleep.

"It's 7. Do you want me to go and prepare breakfast for you or do you want to sleep some more?" Caroline asked carefully, trying not to be too obvious that she wanted me to get up now and not later.

"I'll get up now; it's probably for the best." I told her truthfully, and after exchanging warm smiles, Caroline shut the door and disappeared to go to the kitchen and get my breakfast.

As I got dressed in my room, my mind wandered. What had Alice meant? She had seen a future where Edward and I were together…but what did that mean? Was it _bound _to happen? Was it set in stone that him and I were going to be together one day? Or was it a possibility that she insisted on telling me?

I groaned, irritated that my mind was fuzzed in yet another problem I wish I didn't know about, and I couldn't help but feel a little bit of hatred against both Alice and Caroline. If both of them had just kept their opinions about Edward and I to themselves, the drama these few last days would've been significantly less existent. Damn vampires and their oblivion to privacy boundaries…

The slam of a door brought my mind back to the present. The sound came from the other side of my bedroom door, and judging by Caroline's exaggerated sigh that followed, I guessed it was her, returning from the kitchen.

Since I was done getting dressed, I carefully opened the door separating me and the annoyed vampire and when I saw her hard expression and yellow eyes blazing with anger, I started wondering if it really was such a great idea walking out of my safe bedroom to see her.

"Caroline, what's wrong?" I asked as I slowly began to walk towards her, and when she heard the sound of my voice, she turned to meet my face. The pout on her lips that always appeared when she was annoyed or frustrated was there, and she let out an angry huff before she started to explain why she was so upset.

"They wouldn't let me get you your breakfast. _Apparently_, some other vampire had been complaining about the smell onboard the ship, so from now on the breakfast for all the humans onboard will be served in the dinging area at 8 o'clock."

_Aha… So that's why she was upset…_ I thought, all the details coming together. But as I looked at her, standing in front of me, her face pouting and her fists clenched, I couldn't help but to laugh.

"What is it?" She asked, understandingly shocked by my odd behavior, and I placed my hands on my chest, like that would help me from stop laughing, and gave her an apologetic look.

"I'm…I'm sorry," I said between chuckles. "But I can't help it. You look like…"

"I look like what?" She asked, her eyes widening in horror, making me laugh even more. She shot me a fierce glare, her pout reappearing once again. "Bella, tell me! Stop laughing and tell me what's so funny!" she whined, and I wiped away a tear that had escaped from the corner of my eye.

"Have you been lying to me?" I asked. She froze in her movements, shocked by my choice of words, but before she could answer, I continued. "Because from what I'm seeing, there is no possibility on earth you could be 800 years old when you have the mentality of a 5 year old."

She stared at me, her eyes wide and at first I almost regretted my words, afraid she was hurt. But when I saw how her lips slowly twisted into a wicked grin, I knew she was unharmed.

"A 5 year old, huh? _Unsinn_!" she snorted and then laughed. "Well, this comes from the girl who's 80 _decades_ younger than me. You have quite the nerve…" Before I even knew it, a pillow from the living room came flying towards my face, and before I had the chance to duck, it hit me. Caroline was doubling over with laughter as I recovered from the sudden attack, and before I knew it, we were in the middle of an extreme pillow fight.

It was nice, not caring about anything besides enjoying myself and hitting Caroline as hard as I could with the living room pillows. We just had fun, something I almost had forgotten in the haze of all of the drama. Things like pillow fights were things from the past that I loved. Caroline had always been a mischievous when it came to her behavior, and it wasn't precisely unusual for her to stop everyone with whatever he or she were doing and arrange a game for us to play.

After we agreed to make peace, Caroline fuzzed about my ruffled appearance. She refused to let me outside the suite, looking like I did, so after a lot of arguments, I finally lost and agreed to let her fix it. She squealed with happiness, jumping up and down and then pushed me back into my bedroom to play dress up.

I had to say afterwards that I actually was really impressed. Usually, Caroline took her time when it came to things like these but not now. She was done in the matter of minutes, and I had to say she did a really good job. I did get to keep the dress I was wearing at the time, but she insisted I had to wear a corset underneath, something I had ignored this morning. I protested at that point, reminding her of all of the bad things corsets brought upon me, but she just ignored it and told me that it was the fashion at the time and I would look absolutely fabulous if I just did what I was told.

After the dress up, we were finally on our way to the dining area. My stomach was angrily protesting the entire way, growling loudly as we went, and I almost died in embarrassment as the other passengers turned their heads to see what was making such a strange noise. Caroline grinned every time the noise occurred, but she instantly stopped when I sent an icy glare her way.

The dining area was amazing. Not very big (since the number of humans onboard wasn't that large) but that didn't make it any less impressive. The walls were in dark wood, giving the room a very cozy vibe, and all of the furniture inside the room looked extremely expensive. I was almost afraid to sit down in the chairs or even touching the china, being worried I would break it with my clumsiness.

We sat down at a table at the very far end of the room, close to the large windows. Outside, the sky was filled with dark, gray clouds and the air was filled with thick fog, so the crewmembers hadn't bothered to cover the windows with the usual, thick curtains. Caroline had told me that vampires were a little bit squeamish about the sun, even though it didn't hurt them. Ever since they were "made", they've been learned to avoid the sun at all costs, and Caroline said that breaking the habit was a bit hard for some of them.

One of the servants came to our table as soon as we had settled, and after telling him what I wanted, he swiftly disappeared, only to come back a few minutes later with exactly what I had wished for.

"Thank you." I said gratefully as he placed the last item on the table from his tray, and he made a small bow before he left us again.

"I still find it annoying that we'll have to come here for now on. It was so much more convenient to have to food delivered to our suite instead…" Caroline sulked, her yellow eyes watching my hands carefully as I stirred my tea gently.

"It doesn't matter." I said, shaking my head. I didn't really care that I had to walk here every morning to get my breakfast. To be honest, I was a bit relieved. Having my meals delivered to my doorstep like I was some sort of princess sort of freaked me out. I wasn't used to the luxury, and I wasn't sure I ever would be. Besides, getting the opportunity to sit in this beautiful environment every morning was more than enough for me to being able to accept the changes.

"Hmm." She huffed as an answer, clearly bothered by the new arrangements, but at least she made an effort to hide it. I slowly drank my tea as I watched the gray water of the ocean outside and listened with half an ear as Caroline prattled about her plans for the day. That was probably why I didn't hear him approach.

"More tea, Miss?" I dark voice asked behind me, and I jumped in my seat by surprise. My empty cup clattered against the saucer and I turned around to meet his dark, amused eyes.

"Jacob…" I whispered under my breath as I watched him with wide eyes. _What was he doing here? I know he's working on the ship but… this? Why is he even talking to me? I thought he hated me…_ I thought as I stared at him. His russet skin looked incredibly dark against his white shirt and even though his face showed no emotion, it was all there in his eyes. Anger, amusement, guilt… all he had to do was look at me for me to see it.

It was Caroline's voice that brought me back to the present. "Jacob…? Bella, do you know this man?"

I looked away from Jacob straight into Caroline's eyes, and as I saw the suspicion in her face, I realized my mistake.

_Oh crap. I said his name! Now she'll know I know him! And what if she finds out about his opinions of vampires? What will happen to him then?_

I felt the panic rise in my throat as I stared back at her helplessly. I didn't know what to say! Was I supposed to lie straight to her face and say I didn't know him? Or was I going to tell the truth and risk Jacob's future?

I turned away from her piercing eyes and in the matter of seconds I decided to do the first of the two alternatives (even though I knew I was a terrible liar). I took a deep breath, hoping it would calm down my nerves so it wouldn't be _too_ obvious that I was lying, but before I could even utter a word, a voice called my name.

"Bella! Ah, what a relief! I was hoping to catch you here!" A cheerful voice called from my right, and even before I looked I knew who it was. He smiled as our eyes met, glad to have caught my attention, but as Mike came closer to our table and saw whom my company was, his smile grew stiff and unnatural.

"Jacob." He said as politely as he, his voice sounding strained, and you could clearly see the irritation in his face. "What a _pleasant_ surprise, seeing you here as well. I heard from Andy that the two of you have already met. _Lovely."_

Just like that it was ruined. Mike, not realizing the seriousness of the situation, had destroyed my plan in the matter of seconds.

_This couldn't get any worse…_ I thought darkly as I felt Caroline's scrutinizing gaze. Of course, I was wrong. Because just as I thought those thoughts, a gust of wind appeared on my right and as I looked, I felt my body freezing into place. It was Edward. _He_ was _here_, out of all of the places onboard the ship, and he was looking into _my_ eyes, no one else's. It was like none of the others existed. It was only he and I.

And just as I noticed his pixie sister standing beside him, I remembered her words, the sentence ringing in my head clearly as a bell. _It may not happen now, but somewhere in the future, I can see the two of you together._

I furiously blushed, looking away from his extremely golden eyes, and I could see in the corner of my eye how Alice grinned, satisfied.

"What's going on here?" Caroline asked me, of course noticing my odd behavior. I didn't know where to look. The sly, content Alice? The suspicious Caroline whose eyes didn't leave my face for a second? The clueless Mike who seemed to be more upset about Jacob's presence more than anything else? The bothered Jacob who glared daggers at Edward, not even being subtle about it? Or the absolutely gorgeous, flawless Edward, making my face blush scarlet just by looking at him?

Instead, I looked down at my empty teacup and felt how their eyes stared down at me.

Well, perfect. There goes my relaxing, peaceful breakfast out the window.

**A/N: Okay I know I've been gone for a suuuper long time because of ********personal stuff and blablabla, you probably don't care about the reasons so I won't tell you ****(you're welcome)** but I'm back now! (Yaaaay ^.^) I'm going to try to update as I used to a looooong time ago (like at least every month, give or take) But I hope that you're all well and that you will keep enjoying my writing :D

Playlist: Payphone - Maroon 5


	11. The Fate of The Unlucky

**Chapter 11: The Fate of The Unlucky **

Mike was the first one to react of the six of us. He gave everyone a small glance, his eyes regarding Edward the longest before he muttered a swift farewell and escaped from our sight in the matter of seconds. I looked longingly after him, wishing I could escape as easily as he had with no questions asked and no second looks casted. But no such luck. Caroline knew something wasn't right, and I knew she wouldn't give in until she had gotten what she wanted. Jacob tore his gaze away from the dazzling Edward – who had noticed his hard stare – and gave me a meaningful look. _I told you they weren't worth your time_, it seemed to say but before I had a chance to explain the situation to Caroline (or simply make up a lie to save our skins), Jacob sighed silently and made a small bow.

"If you would excuse me, I will take my leave now." He announced, his voice sounding almost strangled in his emotionless monotone. Anger was burning in his dark eyes, making his stare cold as ice, but he made a strong effort to hide his loathing. He straightened himself and then turned around, hastily following the path Mike had used to escape to the kitchen, but he didn't make it far. Suddenly, the muscles in his back tightened and without a warning, he stopped in his tracks.

"Hold it right there." Caroline said slowly, and this time she spoke, her voice held no kindness whatsoever. It was as cold and hard as rock, and her golden eyes watched him closely, like she could figure out his deepest secrets simply by looking at him. He turned around stiffly, facing us now, and now the outrage in his face was clear. A small, feral sound escaped him and it took me a second to realize that it was a _growl_.

"_Hush."_ Caroline commanded icily, and just as she did the noise was cut off as if he was strangled. "I will ask you one more time, _mutt_. _How _do you know_ my _Bella?" The air was deadly silent now. The only sound to be heard was Jacob's and my heavy breaths and the distinct _thumps_ of our racing hearts. I could practically see the rage rising from her like steam from boiling water and I felt my breath getting caught in my throat. Icy fear gripped me, making my stomach curl. _I have to do something before this gets out of control. _I looked over to Edward for help, but both he and Alice were focused on Jacob, their faces hard and unemotional.

It was me who broke the silence at last.

"Caroline."

Surprisingly, my voice sounded strong and confident as it soared out, breaking the tension between Jacob and Caroline. It hardly matched how shaky and scared I felt on the inside. She snapped her head around to look at me and I met her gaze boldly, not daring to look away from her.

"Let Jacob go. I will tell you everything you want to know; there is no need to torment an innocent man just because you are impatient for answers." It wasn't hard to guess that she was using her so called 'gift' in order to make him do what she wanted, but I couldn't just stand by and let her treat him like that. She looked at me for a long time without saying anything with an odd expression showing on her face. It was like watching a dark cloud, wondering if it would shoot out lightning the second you looked away. It felt like an eternity when she finally let me out of my misery and turned to Jacob with a wide grin on her face.

"Fine. You're dismissed. Leave us be." She said lightly, all traces of anger gone from her voice, but some darkness still lingered in her eyes, making her stare piercing. Jacob, suddenly free from her spell, balled up his fists to his sides, his body shaking slightly but he didn't move an inch. Instead he shot a worried glance towards me and then looked back at Caroline.

"What will happen to the girl?"

The grin on Caroline's face turned strained, almost forming into a grimace. "That is none of your concern, _boy_. Be on your way and leave us." She ordered and made a dismissive gesture with her hand, but still, Jacob made no effort to move.

"She will not be harmed in our company." Edward said suddenly, and the intensity of his voice made me turn and look at him. His golden eyes were focused on Jacob, filled with sincerity. "I swear it."  
Jacob glared at him, but Edward's words seemed to have settled it for him. "You better." He hissed and before he turned to go he gave me a quick look. I watched him as he disappeared just as Mike had a few minutes earlier, and now that he was gone it was just I and the vampires left.

I slowly turned my head towards Caroline, and as I had expected she was staring expectantly at me, waiting for an explanation.

"I can explain." I began weakly, but instead of being met by anger and frustration, I saw how an amused smile began to blossom upon her face.

"I bet you can."

"…And that's everything." I concluded, telling them the whole truth, leaving out nothing. I realized that telling them about Jacob's opinion might put him in danger, danger he did not deserve. But they had to know the truth and since Caroline, Edward and Alice were the most honorable vampires I knew, I decided to trust they wouldn't treat him badly now that they knew the truth. And if they would, they would have to get through me to do it.

"Mr. Black's opinion is well known on the ship Bella." Alice said as I had finished, and I couldn't help but to feel a little bit surprised. It was? But why would they let him work there if he detested them so, debt or no debt?

"There are some things that you do not know about him…"Alice hesitated, but after receiving a meaningful look from Caroline, she continued. "Jacob is a shape-shifter, a human capable to become another form. The shape-shifters from his area and most of the shape-shifters in north America turn into wolves."

"Like a werewolf?" I asked, and even though the news should have surprised me, or even stunned me, they didn't. I only felt a dulled sense of shock. All of the surprises lately had made me realize I needed to be more opened for unearthly revelations like these. I obviously did not know all there was to know about the world, so why act like everything odd was impossible when I had seen clear evidence that proved otherwise.

"No, he's not a werewolf, even though many people make the mistake. Werewolves, or children of the moon as they are called, can only shift form at a full moon. Shape-shifters have the freedom to preform the shift at will." Edward explained, his voice smooth and leveled as he started to explain the difference between an actual werewolf and a shape-shifter but I tuned out and got caught in my own web of thoughts. So, Jacob was a shape-shifter. Who would've guessed it? I most certainly didn't, but although, I seemed to be denser than most people. It almost felt like all the persons around me had some sort of supernatural twist…

"Wait, is Mike supernatural too?" I suddenly asked, rudely interrupting Edward in the middle of his speech. He looked at me, stunned by my sudden announcement.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked me looking rather confused by my unusual question. Blushing, feeling rather ridiculous now, I continued. "H-He's not… say, l-like a fairy or a wizard or anything else in this fantasy world I haven't learned of yet?" Three pair of eyes studied me as I stuttered out the words, and as silence fell over us, I looked down at my teacup as I waited for someone to answer me. What I hadn't (but should have) expected was the laughter that followed.

"Mike? The blonde, short human who has an obvious and absolutely adorable crush on you? Caroline asked, and as I nodded slowly, not really sure I agreed with the last part, she roared in laughter, shaking her little frame. "Absolutely not! Do not be ridiculous!" She exclaimed and began to laugh again. Alice joined her, giggling in amusement, and as I looked at her, she caught my gaze and she flashed me a brilliant smile. Her eyes held amusement as well, but they were also rather sly, like she knew something Caroline didn't. Her brother just smiled politely, but I could tell that he wasn't that entertained as the others. Just like his sister, he seemed to know that I was looking at him, and in an instant he was staring back and instead of admiring the profile of the absolutely gorgeous boy in front of me and taking in his dazzling smile, I was drowning in his butterscotch eyes. Embarrassed for getting caught gawking so rudely at him I instantly looked away, hiding my gaze by scrutinizing the dark tea in my teacup.

After a few minutes of joking around between Alice and Caroline, the laughter finally died.  
"Anyhow, as I told you before, Jacob's hatred against our kind is not a secret onboard this ship, or anywhere else for that matter. Vampires have many enemies in the world, and the shape-shifters are one of them." Alice explained.

"But why would you allow him to work here if his kind is an enemy of yours?" I asked, confused. It didn't make any sense.

"Well you see, Jacob's pack – or rather, the pack leader or Jacob's pack – owes one of the great Volturi leaders a favor. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but somehow the pack leader angered Aro, upsetting him by taking something that wasn't his to take. Instead of killing the shape-shifter like one would expect, Aro decided to use the shape-shifters and their talents to his advantage. So when this cruise was arranged, Aro decided it was a smart move to bring a shape-shifter onboard." Alice voice trailed off, watching me as I nervously took a sip of my now lukewarm tea. As all the puzzle pieces fell into place, it finally made sense. Jacob was forced to work on the ship because of a mistake his pack leader did. He couldn't contradict him since he was the leader of his pack and now he was here, amongst his enemies, paying a debt that wasn't even his. Pity made my stomach sink, and as I got more and more nauseous I got this sudden urge to empty my stomach of my breakfast I had had this morning.

"Are you alright Bella? You look a little…green." Caroline asked in a concerned voice, and I lifted my gaze to meet her eyes, my vision blurry since my own ones were filled with bitter tears.

"Why?" My voice, filled with raw emotion, cracked and I cursed myself for getting so emotional once again. "Why would you do that to another person? Jacob hasn't done _anything_ to deserve this and yet he's treated this way…" I trailed off, not being able to continue. So fast I had no time to react, Caroline was by my side and dragged me out of my chair and straight into her small arms, crushing me into a hug. I breathed in her sweet smelling scent, trying to calm myself down and resist the urge to cry and she softly stroked my hair with her tiny hands.

"I'm so sorry that you're hurting Bella. I really, _really_ am. But I'm afraid that life isn't fair. You've seen it among your humans as well. The contrasts between poor and rich, the jealousy and rage between lovers, murderers and rapists…the list goes on. Our kind is no better. Power struggles are more than common within our species and more often than not, things will get ugly. Jacob's situation is only one of many, and believe it or not, he's actually quite lucky. Aro has never treated him badly or hurt him during his stay, and as soon as the cruise is done, he will get to go back to his pack." She whispered softly into my ear as she spoke and somehow, it made me feel better.

"I guess so." I agreed eventually, knowing she probably had a point and I slowly stepped out of her arms, taking a deep breath. I felt better now; the nausea caused by the entire conversation had finally settled and I was relieved I could breathe without feeling the urge to retch.

"Pardon me for asking but…why does Jacob's situation bother you so much?" Edward suddenly asked, and my heart skipped by the sound of his voice. _Calm yourself_, I thought bitterly, knowing that everyone in the room could hear every heartbeat of mine perfectly. I looked away from Caroline to Edward, who also had risen from his seat together with his sister, and now his eyes bore into mine, not letting me go. I blushed, suddenly having trouble to think, and shook my head slightly, groaning inwardly. Stupid! He probably thought I cared for Jacob in a romantic sort of way. I had no idea how you could label Jacob and my relationship; we weren't strangers, but we weren't really friends yet either. We hardly knew each other to be honest, but something told me that he was a good human being, someone who had a good heart. But I didn't like him _romantically_.

"I… Well-we…" I trailed off and then decided to clear my throat before I continued. "I hardly know him but I still believe he doesn't deserve such a cruel fate as that. No one does. He hardly deserves to be punished for someone else's mistake."

Edward nodded, his face not showing much emotion, but I could see how his face relaxed somewhat, the muscles in his jaws releasing its tense state. Alice began to grin beside him, her face as sly as a fox's but she stopped as soon as Edward shot her a glare.

"Tell you what, how about I'll finally give you that tour of the ship I've been talking about this whole time? You haven't seen the whole ship yet, and there are still some amazing sights to be seen." Caroline suddenly said, changing subject completely. Alice face lit up excitedly, her eyes shining as brightly as a sun, and she touched her brother's arms softly, speaking in an eager tone.

"Yes, that's a brilliant idea! Edward and I will join you, most definitely. Right,_ brother_?" She asked as she raised one eyebrow, jabbing her elbow in his chest. A small giggle escaped me, and I was met by a small, astounding smile.

"Sure, _sister_." He replied, and ruffled his sister's hair playfully. We all laughed as Alice pouted and complained that he ruined her hairstyle, swearing that she would never speak to him again, but we all could hint the smile in the corner of her lips as she spoke.

"It's a deal then! Let's-" Caroline began, taking my hand and started to walk towards the doors when a tall man appeared in front of us, wearing a large, black velvet cloak. He bowed deeply, his long brown hair falling in front of his face, hiding it from my view and as he rose again, a pair of glowing, red eyes were gazing back at us. Instinctively, I took a step back.

"Miss Gray, Aro has sent for you. He wishes to see you immediately." The vampire spoke, his voice harsh. At first, I was afraid for Caroline. _Why did Aro want to see her? Was she going to be okay? _But it wasn't until I heard Caroline's dramatic sigh that I realized she would be just fine.

"Really? Now? But I don't want to." She whined, reminding me that the Caroline I knew was still there, and pouted sourly with her pink lips.

"Yes, _now_." The man replied, obviously annoyed with her attitude, and before I could blink, he had disappeared from our sight. Caroline sighed again, and gave me an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry, I have to go. But you and Alice and Edward can have fun without me. I'll see you as soon as I can." She promised, and after planting a small affectionate kiss on my cheek, she disappeared with vampire speed, leaving me with the other two vampires.

"Well… I guess it's just the three of us then." I stated, still slightly shocked as we walked down the corridor. We all had exited the breakfast room and we were walking down the hallway.

"Well about that…"Alice began, and once again the fox smile appeared on her lips.

"_Alice_." Edward said disapprovingly, but she completely ignored him. Instead, she focused her eyes on me, and now I knew I hadn't imagined anything. Her eyes practically _glowed_ of mischief and before I could ask her what was going on, she continued.

"I have a few errands to run, but you two go ahead. Be sure to show her _everything_ Edward and we will meet again later." She gave me a quick hug, sneaking her arm around my waist, and before I knew it, she was gone as well, nothing left where she just had been except a small gust of wind.

Edward and I looked at each other and I immediately avoided looking him straight in the eyes and feeling how a blush began to creep upon my cheeks. Edward cleared his throat and as I watched his face, I saw that he actually looked a bit nervous. He straightened his posture and then presented me with his arms just as a gentleman would.

"Shall we?"


	12. Treading In Deep Water

**A/N: Thanks to ****crawfish4 & Edward's spouse for reviewing! Sorry for the slow update but here it is, hope you all enjoy :D**

**Chapter 12: Treading In Deep Water**

My tour started right away.

"So, what parts of the ship have you seen?" Edward asked as he led me through the poorly lit corridor. My hand rested on his arm, and even though I could feel that his body was cold through the fabric of his clothes, it felt like my hand was on fire. Now that the two of us were alone, all I could think of was the kiss we had shared. It was stuck in my head, refusing to leave, and I slowly felt a blush creep upon my cheeks. So even though I had heard his question, it took me a while to answer him.

"I-I don't know…"I stuttered, and then paused to think a little bit. "I haven't seen much besides the ballroom, the breakfast area, my suite and yours and these wretched corridors." I said a little grudgingly at the end, thinking how easily these corridors had sent me astray so many times. At first I thought it was my fault since I had such a terrible sense of directions, but the more I thought of it, I decided that the blame was on the one who designed this ship. All the corridors looked exactly the same, and since none of the vampires needed directions of any sorts because they found their way around on their own, no one had bothered to put up any signs.

My thoughts interrupted by the sound of Edward's laughter. I looked his way, and he smiled apologetically.

"I apologize for laughing, I didn't mean to make fun of you in any way. Although it seems these corridors have put you through quite a lot these last few days."

I gave him a small smile and shook my head softly. "No it's alright. I would laugh at myself too. I've only been here for 3 days and in this short amount of time I've probably gotten myself into more trouble than I can handle."

"On the contrary, I think you've handled your situation quite well."

Edward's words surprised me. I turned my head and looked at him questioningly and his eyes met mine instantly.

"I can't say that I socialize with humans that often, but according to me you have handled everything you've been through exceptionally well. Others would've buckled under the pressure but _you_ didn't." he regarded me with his golden eyes softly, speaking with great pride, as if we'd known each other an eternity rather than a few days. "You have a strength, a courage I haven't seen before in a human, and I admire you for that. You're absolutely amazing."

I hadn't even noticed that we'd stopped walking as he reached forward and tucked in a strand of hair behind my ear that had gotten loose. His hand stayed on my cheek and suddenly, everything in the world stopped. The dim corridor ceased to exist around me and instead, all that remained was a pair of strikingly yellow eyes that regarded me with affection. A part of me knew I was supposed to feel embarrassed, knew that it was wrong to feel this way for someone I had just met but I just pushed it all away. All of that didn't matter, what mattered was that we were together. Slowly, we closed in on each other until there wasn't much space left, just barely a few inches between his lips and mine. Edward took a deep breath, and before I knew what was happening, he moved away from me.

I blinked, like waking up from a daze. All those repressed thoughts I had had earlier came rushing back to me, and instantly I began to blush. We…we had almost kissed! Again! I had no idea what was happening to me. When I'm around that man, it seems like my self-control completely disappears. I wasn't like that normally. To be honest, men usually didn't have that effect on me. Just him.

Edward looked as embarrassed as I felt, which only made matters worse, and a bit loudly he cleared his throat and looked straight ahead, avoiding my eyes at all cost.

"Ahem, we should continue." He said, his voice strangely hoarse and without a warning he continued to walk down the corridor without a backward glance to see if I were following him. Not wanting to be left behind despite our awkward encounter, I followed him with small, quick steps. A silence that hadn't been there before followed us through the hallway and with it came a sudden nervousness.

This was going to be a long day…

"…and this is the swimming pool." Edward said as we walked the final steps of the stairs that led up to the diving tower. We had just gotten out of the gym and he now gestured towards the pool, one of our final destinations. We had seen almost every part of ship there was to see, and I was so mesmerized about what I was shown, I had almost forgotten the awkward happening this morning. _Almost_. Even though we could talk normally, I couldn't manage to look him in the eye…

"Another one? This is the third one onboard. Who knew vampires liked swimming that much..." I muttered, too busy watching the ceramic wall pattern and the over all splendor of the room to realize I had spoken aloud. I knew I sounded a little grumpy, but since I had never learned how to swim, I never understood the fun of it.

Unlike the other two pools, this one was indoors (which was rather hard to notice since the ceiling was made out of glass) and it had a diving platform in the east end, complete with a marble staircase that led up to all the levels. Currently he and I were standing on the highest level (which wasn't terribly high, perhaps 6-7 meters) and the view from where we were standing was absolutely breathtaking. The entire room was covered in ceramic patterns and since the ceiling was made out of glass it gave the already large room and open-spaced feeling. I was especially fascinated by the ceramic pattern that was laid out on the pool's bottom. Since the water was clear, you could see the image of the mermaid perfectly. Her gaze swept downward as she combed her fingers through her long, brown hair and I was impressed that the artist could capture the woman's futures so well. There was something about her that was so compelling…

"Well, vampires…" Edward began to explain, but I ceased to listen and instead focused on the mermaid. If I could only get a closer look…I began to take small steps forward in order to get a better view of the figure but just as I had reached the ledge of the platform and had a perfect vision, I suddenly slipped on the wet floor, sending me towards the pool.

I closed my eyes and held my breath, preparing myself for the water. I was ready for it, welcoming it even but just as I thought I would fall toward the water a hand grabbed my wrist, yanking me back and away from the edge. Instead of helping me stand correct, he instead proceeded to hug me close to him, and before I knew what was happening, wind blurred around me. When we were standing still, my eyes flashed open and I found myself staring into the eyes a very furious vampire.

"Are you insane? You could have gotten yourself killed!" Edward roared, his voice booming in my ears, overwhelming me. We were now standing near the door, as far away from the water as the room would allow us. He gripped my shoulders tightly and I could see the anger in his face, practically oozing from his entire being. But for some reason, I felt confused. Why was he mad?

"I…what?" I said slowly, and as I heard my voice aloud, I realized how stupid I sounded.

"You have to be more careful! You could have hit your head as you fell, fracturing it! And the height! You could have landed badly, affecting your ability to swim, which could result in you drowning. Don't you realize how dangerous this situation could have been? You could have _died_, Bella!" His voice was a lot closer to a growl than a shout, but the confusion was still clouding my mind.

"…So?" I asked, genuinely confused. I didn't understand his anger at all. Why was it so bad that I could have gotten myself killed?

Edward stared at me with round, wide eyes, like he couldn't believe what I had just said and I stared back, equally confused. What was going on here? Edward was just about to say something when the door burst open and Alice and Jasper entered. Alice had a tight smile on her lips, like something was slightly bothering her, but I couldn't figure out what. Jasper on the other hand looked as carefree as ever and smiled politely in our direction. Without a warning, Jasper strolled over to us, and in a very gentleman-like way, he bowed and then held out his hand graciously.

"Good day, Miss Bella." Hearing his voice, I suddenly felt much calmer than before. I smiled at him and after getting released from Edward's tight grip on my shoulders (which resulted in me getting a scolding look from him) I reached out to place my hand in Jasper's, but as soon as we touched, something happened, making me yank my hand back and stare at him in shock. It felt like my hand had gotten burned or shocked, and the sensation travelled trough my entire body making me gasp before it disappeared completely, taking my confused daze with it.

"Bella?" Edward's voice was filled with concern and as I turned my head to look at him, I realized he wasn't mad anymore. To be more exact, he actually looked a bit frightened. "Are you alright?"

"I…"I trailed off, staring at my hand. There weren't any signs of getting burn or any actual damage to my hand, which confused me greatly. But I felt something…what was that?

"Bella." Alice voice took me back to reality. She was standing next to Jasper now, and she smiled as her eyes met mine. "If you wouldn't mind telling me, why were you going so close to the pool?"

I frowned at the strange question and was about to ask her why she wanted to know something like that but she interrupted me before I had even opened my mouth. "Humor me."

"I was getting a closer look at the mermaid."

"Mermaid?" Jasper asked, frowning in confusion.

"Yeah, it's right there-" I told him and turned around to point at it when I froze. The bottom of the pool held no trace of any ceramic pattern, let alone a mermaid. The only thing you could see through the clear blue water were the white tiles at the bottom._ I…I don't understand…was it an illusion? Did I imagine it? … Am I going… insane?_

"Impossible…" I murmured staring at the spot the mermaid had been at.

"Bella, are you-" Edward started to ask, but before he could finish his sentence, his brother interrupted him.

"Hunger."

I turned back to the three vampires and suddenly I felt very nervous. Was he talking about himself? Was he getting hungry for blood? As if he had read my thoughts, he shook his head and smiled reassuringly.

"Not us. You. I read a study that Carlisle showed me not long ago that humans sometimes hallucinate when they are extremely hungry. It's probably just that." As if my stomach had waited for this key, it suddenly let out a loud growl that echoed through the room. From nowhere, I felt a great hunger and I blushed and looked down at the ground, wishing to disappear. I had made an utter fool of myself…because I was hungry? Silence followed and it wasn't long until Alice broke that silence with a great laugh.

"Edward!" She scolded her brother, but she had a hard time keeping her serious face on and cracked a smile. "How could you forget to feed her?! She's not a pet you know! Well, in a way she is, but you should take better care of her either way!"

"…You do realize I'm standing right here?" I asked her, only slighted offended.

She rolled her eyes and smiled to me. "Of course I do, silly! Now, since you two were dumb enough to miss lunch, we'll go and eat some dinner. I believe they're serving soup today." Alice then proceeded to take my hand and lead me towards the door they had come from. I stumbled along, having slight trouble to keep her pace, but before I exited the door, I gave a backwards glance toward Edward. His eyes were on me, and the look he gave me was troubled. It was like he hadn't believed this whole "hunger" explanation at all. Well, if I was going to be honest, I wasn't sure I believed it either. Something strange had happened, and we both knew it.

"Well wasn't that splendid?" Alice said as I finished my bowl of soup and smiled happily at me. The four of us were sitting in the human dining room, and since I was probably the only human passenger onboard, the room was empty. The time had passed quickly on Edward's and my tour; the sun had already set. If Alice hadn't arrived when she did and reminded me that I needed to eat, I probably had gone without food for quite some time. Strange, how socializing with vampire's changed your daily habits as much as it did…

"Yeah, that was great." I agreed and sighed happily. After getting some food in my empty stomach I felt more like myself. I was a lot hungrier than I realized. My mind cleared up once I was fed and the strange events before lunch felt even more bizarre and alien. What had flown into me? What had compelled me to get so close to the edge? What bothered the most was that I remembered exactly how I felt in that moment, and in that moment I had no concern for myself whatsoever. I knew I could fall from that height, damaging myself and I knew I couldn't swim, and normally I stayed away from deep waters. But I hadn't this time…why?

"You're frowning again." Edward remarked and as I turned to look at him I could see that he was studying me closely. He hadn't spoken much during my meal (Alice had taken care of that part all by herself) and I had gotten a little worried that he was still mad at me.

"What? No I'm not." I said, which only resulted in me frowning even more. Edward cracked a smile and Jasper chuckled but Alice on the other hand did not see the humor in the situation and glared at her mate.

"Don't tease the girl. That's Caroline's and my job. You two are supposed to be courteous gentlemen that treat her like the princess she deserves to be."

"You're right, I apologize." Edward said and looked back at me, but this time his gaze was much gentler, admiring even and any previous thoughts about him still being mad at me vanished in a heartbeat.

"I'm sorry, love." Jasper apologized to Alice, but the grin he was displaying said he was anything but sorry. Alice did not miss this, and after giving him a long and cold stare, she looked over at me and smiled.

"Jasper and I will be leaving now, but why don't you two finish up the tour without us?" Before Edward or I could respond, both she and Jasper rose from their seats, their bodies blurring in the motion but before they both disappeared, she flashed me another one of her foxy grins.

I sighed and shook my head to myself. Alice would never change…

"Are you ready to leave?" Edward asked me as he smiled tenderly towards me. "There is a place I would like to show you."

"Yes, I'm ready. Let's go"

Together, we exited the dining hall and as we walked through the corridor, heading towards Edward's surprise destination, silence fell upon us. I knew I had to apologize for my behavior earlier this evening, but it suddenly felt hard to speak. I was nervous, a lot more nervous than I should've been. _You big coward, just say it already! _ My mind shouted at me. I knew it was right, and after taking a large breath, I spoke.

"I'm sorry about earlier. You know, at the swimming pool. I don't know what happened, I'm usually not that clumsy –well, I am –but I didn't do it on purpose! I didn't mean to anger you in any way, it just sort of happened and-"I started to ramble, hurrying to apologize about as much as possible in as small time as possible, but before I could say anything else, Edward interrupted me, a grin plastered on his face.

"Bella, relax. I'm not mad. Well, at least not anymore." He reassured me, but I was not pleased by this answer at all. That still meant that he had been mad at me at one point.

"I'm still sorry! I was careless and stupid and-"

"Bella! It's all right. I was only mad back then because I was worried about you. The fact that you could have gotten hurt scares me more than I want to admit." He told me sincerely and took my hand and gave it a squeeze. "So don't be so hard on yourself. You did nothing wrong. It was an accident."

I blushed, moved by his words, and he smiled in return, pleased by my reaction. "Now, since we're not terribly far away from our destination, I would ask for your permission to carry you the last bit." Since I frowned in confusion he added, "So I can run at my speed. That way, you won't be able to see where we're headed until we're there. I want it to be a surprise."

"Well…I suppose it would be alright." I hesitantly agreed, and before I could say anything else, Edward hoisted me up in his arms, making me yelp in surprise. His eagerness surprised me, but at the same time it was exhilarating.

"Close your eyes." He whispered in my ears, his breath stirring my hair, and for a few short seconds I thought I was going to faint. Alice had said the exact same words for the _exact_ same reason not long ago, but that hadn't caused the same reaction _at all_. Doing as he asked, I closed them, and before I knew it we were moving. The wind blew past me as he ran, ruffling my hair and clothes, and with eyes closed, it almost felt like he was flying as he carried me in his arms. Just the thought of it made the urge to open them almost overwhelming, but I knew the illusion would be broken immediately, getting replaced with nausea and tunnel vision so I kept them firmly closed a little while longer.

"We're here." He whispered softly as we came to a stop, and after he had put me down on the ground I slowly opened my eyes to take in my environment. The sight made me gasp. We were standing at a small platform at the stern of the ship I didn't know existed until now, but it wasn't the particular spot that awed me. It was the view.

The sun had already set, and instead of dark grey clouds, the starry sky greeted us instead. The moon shone big and bright in the middle of the sky, mirroring itself on the wavy water and it was hard to look away from its brilliance. But it was the horizon that was the best. To the west not too far away, city lights glowed in the dark, thousands upon thousands tiny specs of lights that lit up the coastline. I had never seen anything like it in my entire life.

"It's… beautiful…" I murmured, watching with awe how the dark water surrounded the floating lights on the far shoreline. I glanced back at Edward to thank him for this amazing gift, but his expression stunned me silent. He watched me silently with dreamy eyes, and it was hard to miss the admiration in his eyes. We stood like that for a few minutes, just watching each other in the darkness but at last, he smiled and shook his head.

"I'm done pretending." He said, and before I could respond, he bent down and kissed me. This kiss was different from the others. It was sweet, but it was urgent as well. His hands knotted themselves in my hair and I responded by bringing my hands to his neck and pulling him closer, deepening the kiss. All my troubles and thoughts disappeared and all that mattered was that we were together. I didn't care that it was supposed to be wrong, immoral or dangerous; it felt _right_.

**Playlist: It's Time –Imagine Dragons **


	13. Tell Me You Love Me

**A/N: Thank you crawfish4, mslm and Edward's spouse for your lovely reviews! Here's a new chapter, hope you all enjoy it :D **

**Chapter 13: Tell Me You Love Me**

The moon shone on the two of us as we stood there, wrapped in each other's arms, only focusing on each other and nothing else. I don't know how long we stood like that, locked into our fierce embrace underneath the starry sky. I felt like I was on fire, intoxicated by the passion and love of our heated moment, and I rejoiced as the burn travelled through my body, flames flicking underneath my skin. I hadn't felt like this with anyone, my body reacting in certain ways I never knew existed, and it was all because of him. Edward.

"Bella, oh my sweet, sweet Bella…" Edward murmured against my lips as he kissed me softly, his hands stroking my face, embracing my body in a way that made me burn with desire. I had never realized something was missing from my life, but now that I knew, I wanted it. I wanted it badly. I wanted _him_. The way he kissed me, the way he touched me; I felt complete, like we were two unique puzzle pieces in one giant puzzle and we matched like no others could. We were together at last, and just the thought of having to leave his side broke my heart. Nothing could separate us and nothing could quench our love. Now that we'd finally found each other in this great, vast world, we'd never be able to let each other go. Alone, I was nothing, just a girl with hopes and dreams, nothing else. I was Bella, daughter of some servants. But together, we were brilliant; _I_ was brilliant. I was Bella the magnificent, Bella the extraordinary because together we lifted each other like no one else could, making ourselves better people. We we're shining endlessly with potential, with joy and most of all; with love and nothing, not the moon, not the stars, not even the sun could burn brighter than us.

When I was younger I reckoned I was in love with the butcher's boy in town called Tom. He was sweet, rather handsome, and every girl in town had fancied themselves in love with him. I figured, why was I any different from them? It would be the natural thing to do, the logical. But as much as I wished for my logical explanation to be true, it was not. I felt no love towards Tom inside my heart; no tender emotions bloomed inside of me as I watched him across the street. Even if I had loved him I'm sure he wouldn't have returned my feelings; why would that popular, handsome boy love someone like me? He was a pretty face with a tender heart, but …he wasn't for me. He never was, I realized now. Somehow, I must have unconsciously known my soul mate, my other better half was someone else, someone much, much better. And here he was, right before my eyes, kissing me senselessly and setting my heart into flames of desire.

It was insane if you thought about it. I had only spent three days on this ship, but I couldn't deny the feelings that were already blooming inside of me; I was in love. Those were my feelings and the mere thought of it made me want to cry of joy, to scream and shout it to the world, announcing my happiness. _I_ loved Edward Cullen. And he loved me. But as Edward trailed kisses down my throat, murmuring sweet, intoxicating words as he did, I realized something. He hadn't actually said he loved me. He had never actually uttered the words to me. I had just assumed that was the case.

It was like heaving a bucket full of cold water over my head. My muscles stiffened, and I pushed him away, placing my hands against his chest. Edward, who sensed something was wrong, frowned in concern. That face, that beautiful, heartbreaking face stared at me with such intensity I could not help but to look away, feeling how tears began to form in my eyes, burning humiliatingly. What a fool I had been, fantasizing a man like him could love a girl like _me_. He probably just wanted to use me, take my virtue and then leave. Leave me behind with all of my silly and hopeless dreams of love, of happiness, of commitment. What a fool. How could I had been so idiotic and assumed he _loved_ me?

"What's wrong Bella? Did I hurt you? Please, tell me-"

"Do you love me?" I interrupted him before he could continue. The question was followed by a heavy silence, and I looked up at him, not caring if he saw the tears that lingered in my eyes. "Do you _love_ me?" I asked again, and this time my voice cracked. I sniffled and shook my head, looking away. "Because if you don't, we should just stop this…this thing between the two of us. Stop it right here and now." It broke my heart saying those horrid words, but they had to be said; they had to be _heard_. "I am not the kind of girl who scandalizes her repetition and virtue just because some _boy_ took her to a romantic spot and decided to kiss her and shower her with flattering words. I'm not! You and I, we are not married nor are we engaged, we…we hardly know each other! We met three days ago and after this whirlwind of events, I have to be sure that you feel something affectionate for me, not just the desire to get me into your bed!" In the end of my speech I had raised my voice so loudly I was on the verge of screaming. Edward stared wordlessly back at me, his shocked expression leaving no clues about what his actual thoughts on the subject were. I stared back, my anger rising within me and just as I was about to start screaming again he replied, his voice a strangled murmur.

"You…you think I don't love you?"

"I…No, but you never-"

"You think I don't _love_ you?" He repeated his words, but this time it was almost a small growl, letting me get a glimpse of the real predator that stood before me. My heart began beat rapidly, sudden fear creeping over me and I gulped. Why was he angry? Had my question offended him so much? Edward stared back at me, but now there were no signs of his former shock, only fury.

"You _honestly _think I would stand here with you, _kiss_ you the way I did, _touch _you the way I did…if I didn't love you?" Suddenly in a ravenous rage, he crushed his lips against mine, claiming them with no large effort at all and before my brain had even registered what had happened, he released my mouth, allowing me to gasp for my breath. His rage seemed to falter, but instead grief replaced it. His eyes no longer shone of anger, but instead they stared back at me solemnly.

"Do you _honestly_ believe I would be capable of such cruelty? How could you not have noticed? The way I looked at you, the way I acted around you… it was all for _you_. You are the sun in my endlessly dark pit of a life." His sorrow had turned into intensity now, and he was staring deeply into my eyes, "I don't care that we hardly know each other. I don't care if my family is against us, I don't care if Caroline is against us…I don't even care if the entire world is against us. _You_ are the only thing that matters. I love you. I _love _you Isabella Swan, from the darkest corners of my heart, and I apologize if I have not asked for your hand in matrimony yet," he said and he displayed a small grin. "But I thought it might have been a little bit too soon for that. I was frightened I would scare you away, so shortly after our first encounter. I wanted to be a proper gentleman, a man worthy of your love and to be that man I wanted to court you in a correct manner. But as it seems I have gotten slightly ahead of myself. Here we are, in the middle of the night, and you don't even have a chaperone. Although I suppose I should be happy for that since I made an utter fool of myself by charging in as recklessly as I did, declaring my feelings for you."

I stared at him in disbelief. Was I hearing this correctly? Was _Edward_ _Cullen_ declaring his _love_ for me? Edward Cullen, the amazing, excruciatingly beautiful vampire who had captured my heart in less than three days? Suddenly, everything became a blur around me, and Edward's strong hands circled around my waist, holding me against him.

"Bella! Are you alright?!" Edwards voice was alarmed, but it sounded like it was far, far away. A ringing noise sounded in my ears, and my vision, which was already quite limited because of the bad lighting, became overwhelmed by black spots. I gasped for my breath, fighting the urge to loose consciousness and after a few seconds my vision slowly returned. The ringing in my ears lasted a big longer, and it took me almost a minute to gather myself together before I could speak again.

"Forgot to breathe." I explained, my voice a weak whisper. My thoughts were still spinning endlessly inside of my head, making me dizzy. _He_ loved me. He _loved_ me. He loved _me_. I gazed into his face, filled with compassion and concern and…yes, love. It was there, clearly visible in his sweet, golden eyes. How come I couldn't notice this before? How could I miss something as important as this? How could I ever have questioned him? Warmth filled my body, washing away any fear or doubt lingering inside of me and replaced it with pure joy. I smiled fondly at him, feeling how my chest squeezed with the familiar feeling. _Love_. He reached out his hand towards my face, stroking my cheek softly and I laughed melodiously, letting the tears fall freely now, tears of joy and relief.

Edward, who mistook the tears as tears of distress, not of joy, began to kiss away the tears, whispering soothing words in order to make me happy again, in order to take my pain away. His sweet notion made my heart swell again, beating steadily in my chest with affection.

"So you love me, huh?" I asked in a tiny whisper as Edward drew back and stroked back my hair from my face. It wasn't a question of doubt, not at all. I knew now, I knew it wholeheartedly. I just couldn't say what I wanted, what I had meant. _You love me as I love you. _Instead, this weak excuse of an acceptation of his affection came out, not at all as I wanted it to be. But luckily, Edward didn't seem to mind it. He just smiled back at me and nodded, his eyes catching my gaze and holding it steadily.

"Yes, I do. Tenderly so." He assured me softly and earnestly. Then his face turned serious. "Do you love me back?" he asked suddenly, and I could see the fear in his face as his eyes searched my face for anything besides the great joy I felt. My smile grew even larger and I laughed again.

"Yes, I do. Tenderly so." I said, copying his words warmly as I leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. "More than you could ever imagine."

***Caroline's POV***

Alice sat and watched me from the sofa as I restlessly paced back and forth, my hands clasped before me. The darkness had fallen outside and the luminous moon shone brightly through the small window in the parlor, the only source of light in the room. Not that it mattered; we were all children of the night, darkness was not an issue for us. Alice, Jasper and I of us were all gathered in Bella's and my suite and as soon as they had told me the horrible news, I hadn't been able to sit still. My mind was raging, my emotions all over the place and even though we had gone through this numerously now, I had to be certain, _absolutely_ certain in order to find answers.

"Are you sure?" I asked once again, my thoughts endlessly trying to find connections, reasons and answers. Why? Why would that sort of thing happen?

"Yes. I saw it in my vision." Alice answered once again as she clutched Jasper's hand. Worry lingered in her eyes, and I wouldn't blame her. This was a serious problem, one that would affect us all if it escalated.

"Why?" I asked again, frustration building up inside of me. How could this have happened? Her Bella, her sweet loving Bella… Frustration turned into anger, and the vase that stood on the small table once again broke, splitting into a thousand small pieces floating in the air.

"If it wasn't for Edward…" I muttered fiercely, my eyes blazing with anger. "He's supposed to _protect_ Bella! He's not really doing a great job now, is he?" I sneered, blazing hot rage filling me up. Alice glared at me, angered that I had insulted her brother's honor.

"Don't speak like that about my brother. I know you are frustrated at the moment, but it's not his fault it happened!"

"Really? Then whose fault is it? Because it's not Bella's, that's for sure!" I hissed back, the anger railing once again.

"It's no ones fault, Caroline." Jasper said calmly, his face swiped of any emotion. That's how Jasper dealt with crises: emotionlessly. His eyes were hard and cold, only focused on the task at hand and for that I was thankful. Right now, the last thing I needed was someone who was as emotionally unstable as me. "But now that it's happened we need to figure out how we are going to solve it."

"I know that…but are you sure it won't solve anything if I kill him?"

"Caroline!" Alice exclaimed, and I sighed, knowing I was being ridiculous.

"I know, I know, I wasn't serious. Of course I'm not going to kill your brother. Relax."

"We are calm, Caroline, but you have to focus on the real issue. This is dangerous, and Bella's life could be in danger." Jasper said.

"I know that! Don't you think I know that?! Her life is at stake, and I don't know what I'm supposed to do!" I cried helplessly, letting both of them knowing how heartbroken I was. Bella meant everything to me. She showed me how to live again after Hans's unexpected and unjust death, and all she had to do was to be around me, spreading her wonderful, mortal joy. After 800 years on this earth, I still found things that amazed me, and Bella was one of them. She shared her joy, her love so easily and she didn't even notice how she affected the people around her. When she was a child, she had gained more than one handsome suitor, watching her as she walked through town. I remember one of them clearly: that butcher's boy, the one with bright ginger hair and clear green eyes. Tom was it? He was a bright boy, mature for his age, and he had a lot of friends growing up because of his lively charisma, Bella being one of them. He always fancied her, even from the start of their friendship and she had no clue. She was always so clueless when it came to love, and yet she spread it like a wildfire.

I hated it that she was in danger now. Of course I blamed myself, and why shouldn't I? I should've sheltered her more, made sure she was safe from the dangers of the world, especially when it came to vampires. If I knew any better, I would have sheltered her from myself as well. I could have left her at the orphanage when her parents died, or left her on the doorstep of a loving family in want of a child, but I didn't. I had kept her for myself and I knew it was wrong and selfish, bringing up a human child, having her as your company just because I was…lonely, and yet I did it anyway.

It was after I had joined the Volturi that other vampires around the world began to understand how powerful I was, and that knowledge brought me lots of enemies. I had always been careful with whom I associated myself with, trusting no one until I was absolutely certain that I could, but that obviously hadn't helped me in this situation. Now, in the hands of someone I trusted, Bella had gotten herself into a dangerous mess. And the most horrible thing was that she had no idea.

"We will solve this, don't worry." Alice assured me, but it was hard to feel assured when the most important person existing in your life was in danger.

"I'm sorry, It's just…I'm worried. You would be too if you were me. You know how much she means to me. Just knowing she's in some sort of danger breaks my heart."

"It's alright, we understand." Alice replied understandingly.

Suddenly feeling very tired, like all of my energy had surged out of me during our argument, I sat down in an armchair, putting together the broken vase I hade destroyed earlier, and moved it back to the small table using my powers.

"I just need to be sure. Jasper, are you absolutely certain that you felt it when you touched her?" I asked him, knowing already what the answer would be, but since I had no idea how his power worked exactly, I had to be sure.

Jasper, his face set in a stone nodded once again and turned his gaze upon me. "I am extremely certain. Earlier today, Bella was being compelled by magic.

**Playlist: Never Let Me Go – Florence + ****The Machine**


	14. Bittersweet Revelations

**A/N: Thanks to Edward's spouse, mslm, crawfish4 & Guest for reviewing, it means a lot for me! Here's a new chapter, please enjoy :D**

**Chapter 14: Bittersweet Revelations **

***Caroline's POV***

Darkness surrounded us in the small parlor as the moon went behind sudden clouds, making our surroundings pitch black. I could still see the earnest look on Jasper's face, knowing he was telling me the truth I dreaded, wishing so badly it was a lie. I sighed and put my face into my hands, Jasper's words echoing in my head: _Earlier today, Bella was being compelled by magic…_ I groaned and made a sour grimace. Just thinking about it made me feel sick. She and Edward had been in the swimming area when a sudden magical force had compelled her, sending her mind into an eerie state that wasn't her own. _Someone had compelled her to kill herself. _She wasn't even aware of the danger she had put herself in, acting confused when Edward had confronted her about it.

"As I told you, I did not want to alarm her, afraid she would be frightened out of her mind so I lied and told her she probably was hallucinating because of hunger." Jasper explained slowly, afraid to upset me more, but his information was no news; he had told me the same thing twenty minutes ago.

"I hate keeping her in the dark, she hates lies and secrets." I muttered as I swept away ringlets of hair from my face. Bella had always hated secrecy, ever since she was a small girl. Lying to her now really broke my heart. We were family, she and I, and family stayed together no matter what. _And they didn't lie to each other_.

Another tug came at my heart and I felt my eyes drying up, they way they did when vampires had the urge to cry.

"You do know that you actually don't have to keep her in the dark if that is what you want?" Alice asked, her stare piercing me as she watched me from across the room.

"But she's so fragile…She's been through so much these last few days, and putting her through another thing-"

"Won't kill her. Caroline, I'm telling you this as a friend, and I would appreciate if you would listen. Bella is not weak. She's not this fragile, brittle little girl you make her out to be. She's strong, stronger than most women, and she won't die if you tell her the truth. It might even help her in this situation. That way she would be able to protect herself more easily and make smart decisions."

I stared back at her, thinking it through. Although I hated to admit it, I knew she was right. Bella _was_ strong. That was one of the reasons I loved her so much. But telling her this would shock her badly. And…I was tremendously afraid that she was going to blame me for her misfortune. The person who had compelled her earlier this day was certainly trying to get to _me_, trying to cause harm to me in some way, and he or she was trying to do this by hurting Bella in order to get to me. But, of course, Alice was right. If Bella knew the truth, she would be able to protect herself better. She was a clever girl, she always had been and she always would be. But I hated causing her harm, even if it was for her own good. I sighed in defeat and turned towards Alice.

"You're right."

"Of course I am right, It's me remember?" She said, flashing me a small, confident grin, and despite of our tense predicament, I began to laugh. But after a few seconds I recovered and once again the atmosphere turned heavy and grim.

"I should tell her now, waiting will only make it worse. Where is she? Edward and she must be done with their tour by now, right?"

"Wait a minute, I'll try to look." Alice said and closed her eyes, concentrating hard on her task. She had done this many times before but every time she did, she astonished me. Alice of course wasn't as all knowing as she made herself out to be. She couldn't possibly keep tabs on everything around her, anywhere in the world at all times. But she had this trick whenever she wanted to know what someone was doing at that very moment. She turned her focus to the person or spot she wanted to know more about, and instead of searching for far wide possibilities, she just looked what would happen one or two seconds into the future. She was focusing very hard now, and just when I was about to ask her if something was wrong, she gasped and her eyes flashed open.

"What? What did you see!?" I demanded, suddenly feeling very worried.

"No…no it's fine… she's still with Edward. It's just…" She trailed off, looking a little bit nervous. Like she was feeling guilty for something.

"What is it?"

"You're probably not going to like this…"

***Bella's POV***

Edward kissed the top of my head as I leaned back against his chest, his arms snaked around my waist snuggly. We had decided to sit down on our small little platform and together we watched the stars in the vast, dark sky and as we did, we talked. Both he and I understood that even though we had declared our feelings for each other, there were still a lot of things to be said and told in order for us to get to know each other well. So we sat there, wrapped in each other's arms and talked about everything and nothing, about childhood memories and future dreams. It was illuminating, learning so much about him that I'd never would've guessed. Apparently he was fluent in 4 languages, he played the piano and the violin and he was an ardent booklover. I told him of my childhood, growing up in Caroline's house. At first, I was nervous. Would he think I was boring, my stories too dull and mortal for his tastes? But it seemed my worries were all in vain, because he took great interest in about everything I said, and it didn't take long for him to bombard me with questions, everything from what my favorite color was to what a perfect meal for me would include.

We talked, and talked and talked, letting the hours pass us by, and just as I thought about how happy this moment was, how lovely this night had turned out to be, something happened that would ruin our moment. Edward, who was in the middle of telling me about one of his favorite professors from his university, suddenly tensed up, and before I could ask what was wrong, he lifted me from up the floor and helped me stand upright. He moved me towards the corner of the platform, far away from the ledge, and then walked forward, his eyes searching the darkness, as if something (or someone) was lurking out there, just waiting for the right opportunity to strike.

"Edward, what-"I began to ask, but before I could finish my sentence, a blur of movement came from my right, moving in the shadows. Edward saw it too, and just as he had turned around to face his enemy, he was tackled down from the ledge, a loud crash sounding as his body landed on the deck a floor down. A scream left my throat, and I started to run towards the ledge of our platform to see if he was okay, but before I made it to the edge, a girly laugh sounded from my left. A laugh I was _very_ familiar with. I stopped dead in my tracks and slowly turned around, knowing exactly who to expect.

"Caroline?" I asked, with disbelief, confused. What was she doing here? It didn't make any sense. The darkness hid her features, and I couldn't quite make out if it was her or not as I squinted into the darkness.

"Bella, my dear! I'm so glad I found you, I was afraid you had gotten yourself lost again in those horrible corridors." She started to move forward towards me, and as she stepped into the moonlight I saw her completely. There she was, smiling sweetly at me, her appearance oozing of innocence and goodness but I could see the glint of mischief hiding in her eyes, something that few people but me could see. Threads connected in my head, and the smile that had started to spread on my face instantly vanished, replacing it with a stern frown.

"Caroline…did you just push Edward off the ledge?"

She laughed sweetly, as if the mere thought of her doing something as evil as that was ridiculous and just as she started to answer no, I heard Edward's mutter of a yes from a small distance. I glared angrily at her.

"Caroline! Have you no shame in your body!? I know you vampires are practically invincible, but doing that to another person is just horrid!" I chided her as I started to walk towards the ledge. As I looked down I could see Edward lying there in the mess of a broken bench he had smashed in his fall. He looked up at me and grinned, reassuring me that he was fine and that his fall hadn't hurt him. But his wellbeing didn't smother my anger. I turned around to glare once again at Caroline, but before I could scold her again, she shrugged, moving to stand beside me.

"Don't be mad Bella, he's not hurt in any way, and besides I think he enjoyed flying a bit. Didn't you, Eddie boy?" She grinned at him, and he laughed.

"It was _enchanting_." He replied sarcastically as he started to stand up and began to brush off his clothes of dust, filth and splinters. He did that in a miraculous speed, and before I knew it, he had jumped up to us on the platform.

"Why would you do something like this?" I demanded, staring at her furiously. She looked back at me, and just when I expected another sugarcoated reply, her face turned dead serious, all previous joy in it disappearing. I had never seen her so stern, so…cold. She looked at me, and then glanced towards Edward. "So I could teach you both a lesson." She pinned Edward under her gaze. "You especially." She returned her gaze towards me, and even though I saw her eyes softening a little bit, her face was still grave.

"Alice told me about your relationship with Edward." She said bluntly. I froze, suddenly very self-conscious. Caroline _knew_? Was she…angry? She had told me earlier I wasn't supposed to trust vampires, and when Edward had kissed me before, we had fought for almost an entire day. I stared back at her with wide eyes, suddenly afraid about what she was going to say, but she took no notice of my frightened expression and continued her speech.

"She told me, and at first I was shocked. But you know I love you and want you to be happy, so of course I won't refuse you that happiness. Certainly, I'm not that happy that he's a vampire – I am well aware of the danger of my own species – but he's one of the most honorable vampires I know, so I guess you chose wisely. That wasn't the reason though for pushing him." After pausing a little bit, she added "at least not the whole reason."

"Then why did you?" I asked, feeling confused and slightly light headed.

"To test him. I'm sorry to say your dear suitor failed but don't worry, he'll get lots of other opportunities to redeem himself in my eyes." She glanced at him with a small smile, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Edward stared back at her, looking confused at first, but then his face turned into a scowl. Confused, I turned back to Caroline, searching her face for answers.

"You…you tested to see if he was worthy of me?" I asked hesitantly.

"Well, sort of. I wanted to test his capability to protect you, since he failed with it earlier in the day."

"I'm not sure I'm following…" I said, frowning. What did she mean? Edward hadn't put me in danger earlier today. He had showed me around the ship all day. We had talked, laughed… everything had been as it should have been…hadn't it?

"Bella…" Her earlier, hard expression started to slowly melt away, and in remaining was raw sorrow and pain. Her emotions shocked me, and instantly, I felt compelled to go forward and take her into my arms. I hated seeing her like this, so hurt so…so shattered. She took several deep breaths, but it didn't help; she still looked like she was ready to cry. I was just about to go forward, but she raised her palm towards me, motioning me to stop. I did as she wished, but the urge still burned inside of me. I wanted to ease her pain, take away whatever that was hurting her so.

"Caroline, please…Tell me what's the matter! I've never seen you so distressed before. If you could tell you then…then maybe I could help. I'm not really sure of what event you are speaking of, but if you would enlighten me, I would be most grateful."

Caroline looked at me and smiled sadly. "My dear… If I could only have a heart of gold like yours…" She shook her head slowly, and then with one deep breath, she spoke.

"Bella, earlier today something happened. It was during your and Edward's tour, when you were at the indoor swimming pool. Do you remember?"

I frowned, not sure of what she spoke of, and turned to look at Edward for help. He looked back at me grimly, his face torn with guilt, and I was shocked. Something had absolutely happened, but…what? I couldn't recall anything that strange. We…we went to the pool. We were indoors and we began to ascent the stairs of the diving platform. There we were on the top and then…

I frowned and closed my eyes in concentration, focusing hard to remember what had happened. Had we taken a swim? No, no that's not right. I can't swim, especially not with my dress on. The fabric of my dress was rather heavy all by itself, and it would weigh a ton if I ever decided to bathe in it. I wouldn't last a minute in the waters. But what had I done? I thought harder and then, it slowly cam back to me…I remember this urge, this compelling urge to…_to jump off the tower and drown._

I gasped, and in a swirl of memories and emotions, it all came back to me. That captivating mermaid on the bottom of the pool's floor that had disappeared, like it never even existed in the first place. I breathed heavily, and Edward was at my side in no time, holding me steady. What had happened to me? Fear and worry began to crawl up my spine, and I shivered uncontrollably.

"I…I remember. It was awful…" Tears began to form in my eyes, and I looked back at Caroline. "What happened to me?" Without Jasper's emotional influence, I could tell that a hallucination caused by hunger was out of the question. It was something else that had caused it, something dark and sinister judging by the look of Miss Caroline's face.

A grim look settled on her face, and after sharing a small look with Edward, she spoke. "We have reason to believe that you were compelled by magic yesterday. We think someone tried to k-"she paused a small second, and then continued. "_harm_ you in order to get to me. I would really like to discuss this further, but I think we should retreat to our quarters to do so. It's not safe to talk here."

Edward nodded curtly, and without another word, Caroline disappeared. He then turned to me, and spoke in a low monotone free from any emotion.

"Caroline's thoughts told me we're meeting in our suite. Alice and the others are already there."

I took small, shaky breath and then nodded. Before I even knew it, Edward had whisked me off my feet and was running at full speed in Caroline's trail towards the Cullen suite.

"Magic? Are you sure?" Esme asked, her soft voice trembling with worry and fear.

"Yes mother, we are quite sure." Alice answered for her and Jasper, only a hint of annoyance in her voice. I guess she didn't like that so many had doubted her abilities in one evening. Caroline had gathered every one of the Cullens together in the lounge of their suite, and after explaining the whole thing to everyone we could finally search for some answers.

"But what kind of magic was it? Do you know if it came from another vampire or not?" Carlisle asked, pacing back and forth in the middle of the room, frowning in deep thought.

"There are different kinds of magic?" I asked Edward, surprised. I knew certain vampires yielded certain magical attributes, but I did not know that magic could come from another source than vampires.

"Yes." Edward answered softly, not wanting to disturb Jasper and Alice as they concentrated on remembering the magic they had felt earlier today. Together, Edward and I were sitting in the left corner of the sofa, and despite the distressing situation I found that I enjoyed having him close. "Many vampires have magical abilities, but there are other creatures who are capable of the same things. Witches and fairies are the most common ones known, but there are lots of other creatures who have magical attributes in their blood."

So there were witches and fairies now? What else were there out in the world that was lost to the humans' knowledge? Of course, vampires, werewolves and fairies were not unknown to all humans, but most of them (practically all) believe that their existence is a myth, a fable carried across time. I guess I should not be surprised that they are real, but getting to know such stories are true, you begin to wonder what else in this world is not just a work of fiction…

"No, I'm sorry but we can't tell. We know it was a spell or some sort of mind controlling ability, but we can't tell you who or what might have done it." Jasper finally concluded, and a heavy silence followed. Emmett, who was sitting in the opposite corner of the large L-shaped sofa scoffed and raised his eyebrow in disbelief.

"I apologize if I might sound rude, but why are we even worried? It's ridiculous of us to get nervous because something as silly as this. It's probably someone who's bored and decided to pull a prank. I'm telling you, it's nothing! Besides, it there is a real threat we have no reason to be frightened. There are eight of us here, seven in which are vampires and there are four who have an extra ability. I don't know about you, but those odds look pretty darn good. And besides, there are few who can beat me in a fight." Emmett concluded, a confident grin hanging lopsidedly across his face. Alice and Caroline glared murderously, and Esme exclaimed in horror. Edward made a small, predatory growl, and the already uneasy atmosphere became even tenser.

"Emmett, do not be an idiot. This is a real issue. It doesn't matter how good any of us fight or how impressive our talents are. All that is useless if we don't know whom the enemy is. We're trapped in this boat until it reaches shore and that is days away. It could be anyone onboard Emmett, and we have no idea who. Bella was attacked today in _my care_. I can't express how much this maddens me, but it _did_ happen. Our enemy is smart, sly as a fox, and if we don't take care of him or her now, we will regret it." Edward said darkly, and for once, Emmett looked lost for words. But he recovered quickly and gave him a small smile.

"Alright then, sorry for angering you all. I know this little Bella of yours is precious to you." He turned his glance towards me and grinned. "I guess we you're practically family now, aren't you? You couldn't resist my brother's charm, could you? I told him to make a move fast and-" Emmett was cut off by Rose, who landed a firm blow on his arm with her fist, but even though she cut off his speech, she couldn't remove his good mood. I felt how the other Cullen members watched me in the corner of my eye and I knew what they all were thinking. I blushed furiously and looked down in my lap. So, everyone already knew, huh? I guess I wasn't supposed to be surprised, but I was anyways. It was almost uncanny how fast words spread between vampires, and it made you wonder if they were ever able to keep their secrets.

I looked up towards Caroline, and she immediately met my gaze. Despite our tense situation, she managed to send me a warm smile, which I was extremely grateful for. I knew she wasn't that pleased that Edward and I had become a couple, but she still managed to put away her opinions and be happy for me. My heart warmed and I gave her a small smile back. In this moment, I knew that whatever would happen, she would always be there for me, as I would for her. We were family; maybe not by blood, but by heart. We loved each other and it wouldn't matter what hardship would come before us; we would deal with it together.

I felt how Edward moved, his hands grabbing mine gently. I looked up into his golden eyes, and I saw the strength there, the love. Butterflies appeared in my stomach, and I couldn't help but to blush slightly. _Not only Caroline was there for me now_, I reminded myself gently. _Edward was too._

"Well, we are all very happy for you both." Esme said gently, staring at us with loving eyes. "I couldn't be happier to accept you into our family." And with that, we left the subject of my love life, and went back to…well, my life. Or rather, how they were going to prevent my death. The discussion continued for a long time, and even though some very smart arguments were made, they never seemed to fit. I felt the frustration build up in all of them when suddenly a knock was heard at the door. The conversation stopped, and nobody moved. Who could it be? We were all gathered here, and at this time at night, no servant would disturb. I was just about to ask, when a man suddenly appeared in the room. He was a vampire, his skin pale as snow, but his eyes unlike the other vampires' in my company, were bloody red. I flinched when I saw them, and reminded myself to breathe. He wore a red, velvet cape, and his garments immediately hinted who he was. _He was someone from the Volturi._ I felt Edward tense beside me, but he made no movements whatsoever. The others also remained unnaturally still, but you could feel the tension in the air.

"I am sorry for intruding this evening." He said in a strong monotone, and made a small bow. "Aro requests your presence in the assembly hall. He has arranged a meeting for all the passengers onboard. Please come shortly, the meeting will begin in a few minutes." He bowed again, like he was excusing himself from our party, but just before he left, his eyes met mine. "The human must remain here. Only vampires may attend." With those words, he departed, leaving the room in utter silence. Caroline was the first to speak.

"Stupid man, what does he want now? I met him earlier today, what could he possibly want to discuss now?" Caroline sighed, pouting sourly and looked at the others. "We'll have to attend, he'll be angry with us otherwise." The others agreed, but Edward stayed quiet. I frowned, not liking that he was upset. I touched his hand gently, bringing his attention to me, and gave him a small smile.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." I told him sincerely. I knew that there was a chance someone was out there, trying to cause me harm, but being senselessly frightened and hide in a corner wouldn't help.

"I know, I know…but I can't help myself. How can I not worry when there is someone out there, trying to harm the one I love? How can I be sure you will be safe? " He said in a small voice, and reached up to tuck in a strand of hair behind my ear. I blushed, but his words made my smile grow. _He loved me as I loved him_.

"You'll just have to trust me."

Caroline and the Cullen family left swiftly after giving me the promise that they would be back very soon. I sighed, but knew that they would probably hurry as much as they could to get back to me, so instead of moping I went towards the bookshelf in the room and regarded its content critically. After scanning the titles over and over again, I finally chose one I liked and sat down with it. The silence around me distressed me at first, making it hard for me to get in to the story, but after about ten minutes, my jumpy nerves finally settled, and I could read in peace. But the peace didn't last for long, because just after a few minutes, a knock was heard from the door. I set down my book and looked up. Are they back already? Excited, I moved quickly towards the hall, glad that they were back so soon. They really kept their promise when they said they would hurry. I grabbed the handle and opened the door, but as soon as I saw who it was on the other side, I froze in surprise. There, with a grim look on his face, stood Jacob.

**Playlist: ****Shaken By the Resistance – A Minor Swoon **


	15. It Came Out of Nowhere

**A/N: Thank you crawfish4, mslm & Edward's spouse for reviewing. Please enjoy the chapter!**

**Chapter 15: It Came Out of Nowhere**

"Jacob? What are you doing here?" I asked in a bewildered voice. His appearance was ruffled, like he had run here in full speed, but his face yielded no fatigue. He just stared at me darkly, his irises black as the night. When he didn't answer me right away, I became worried.

"Has something happened? What's the matter?" I asked him again, my voice full of concern. I had never seen him like this before. Was he angry about something? He couldn't possibly know about Edward and I yet…could he? Icy fear crawled down my spine, and I dismissed the urge to cringe. No, he wouldn't like that at all. I knew we hardly knew each other, Jacob and I, but it really felt like we had become friends these past days, and even though I didn't want to admit it, his opinion mattered to me.

"Everything's fine." He finally said, and his voice was clipped as he spoke. Yes, he was definitely angry. Even though his dark eyes looked at me emotionlessly, I knew the anger that hid underneath the surface. Unease came over me like a wave and I tried not to sigh. I didn't want to fight with him, not now. Jacob seemed like a really gentle boy, and ever since I found out about his situation, I felt great sympathy for him. But I wouldn't satisfy him by backing away from this, from Edward. I loved him, and if Jacob couldn't deal with it, it would be his problem.

"If this is about Edward and I-" I began to defend myself, but he cut me off.

"It isn't. They sent me to get you."

His words surprised me, but I realized instantly what he was talking about. "Caroline and the others? Why would they do that? I thought they said they would be back soon."

"We need to hurry, they don't like to be kept waiting." With those words, he turned around and began to walk down the long corridor, away from me. Realizing I would be left behind if I didn't start to move, I hurried after him, closing the door as I went.

"Wait up!" I called as I hurried after him, catching up with him almost immediately and he glanced sideways as I walked up beside him. His gaze was hard as stone as he watched me, and my stomach turned cold. He was mad all right; that was for sure. I wonder who had told him… We walked together in silence, and after a few minutes of just walking through those never ending corridors, I finally gathered the courage to speak.

"Listen, just hear me out. I know you're not happy with me for my choice, and even though I want you to be as pleased as I am about this decision, I understand why you're not. You don't like vampires, and that's fine. I don't blame you for that; you have all the right to after what they've put you through. But Edward…he's different. He's not evil, even though I know you think he is. He's sweet, funny and beautiful on both the inside and the outside. He's even kinder than most humans I've met through my entire life. So I'm not going to tell you what to think or deprive you of your opinions, but I just really wish you would be happy for me…for _us_."

Silence fell over us as soon as I had finished speaking, and the only sound to be heard was the soft thump of our feet as we walked on the carpet. At first I was afraid he wasn't going to answer, that he was just going to ignore what I had said and continue like nothing had happened, but slowly but surely, I noticed how he began to slow in his pace. Hi face turned into a small frown, like he was concentrating on what to say next, and after a small minute of silence, he spoke.

"Do you love him? Will he protect you?" He asked, his voice low yet I heard him perfectly. I nodded and flashed him a small smile. Yes, indeed I loved him and if there was something I was really certain of, it was that Edward would keep me safe. Caroline had went on about how he had "failed" her test but I believed that when it came down to it he would be able to defend me. Jacob looked me sincerely in my eyes and as I stared back, I noticed something I hadn't seen before in his expression: fear. Fear for me.

"For your sake, I hope that's true. Stay with him Bella. Stay with him and _trust no one_."

***Caroline's POV***

The doors to the assembly hall opened by my own command and together the eight of us entered the room. The meeting hadn't begun yet, but as we entered the room I felt how everyone that had already gathered looked our way. After hundreds of years, dealing with the same behavior at most gatherings I went to, I was used to it; the stares, the whispers, the way people turned slowly to catch a glimpse of me. They knew whom I was and that I was very, _very_ powerful. But tonight it felt different. Instead of feeling the familiarity of the situation, I felt at unease. All these people that had gathered here today could be potential enemies. There was a _great_ possibility that the one who had tried to hurt Bella was in _this very room_. So instead of doing what I usually did, which was ignoring them, I started scanning the people gathered. I knew most of their names, but there were a lot of strangers as well. I was so busy overlooking the crowd, I almost didn't notice when Aro, the leader of the Volturi, approached us.

"Splendid! You are all here." He smiled towards Carlisle and the rest of the Cullen family, and then turned to me. "I am so glad that you could make it at such a short notice. I hope I didn't interrupt something, did I?" He asked as he reached for my hand. I gave him a small smile and laid it in his palm, letting him kiss the back of it.

"No, not at all. Although I am a little confused to why we are here. Your little _lapdog_ that you sent didn't give us much information." I answered sweetly, trying as hard as possible to conceal the annoyance I felt. Aro had always been like this, gathering people on a whim just because he felt like it. Even though more than a hundred years had passed since the first moment I had met him, his behavior hadn't changed a bit. He had always been like that. I couldn't deny that he was a great leader, because he was. When there had been struggles in the vampire community, he had made great efforts to solve them. But sometimes he would abuse the power he had gathered over the years for his own amusement. Aro was well aware I didn't like this habit of his, but he had never really made great efforts to change his ways.

Aro guffawed, a terrible wheezing sound that wasn't appealing in any way, and gave me an amused look. "No, I didn't want to reveal too much too soon. You will see soon enough anyways. Speaking of lapdogs, how is your little Bella? I understand there has been quite a disturbance since you and I last saw each other." Edward tensed up behind me, and for less then a quarter of a second, I was confused. How could he know? We had all sworn that we would not speak of this with anyone until we knew for certain that we could trust them. Aro, even though he was a friend of mine, was not someone I would deem trustworthy of this information yet. But then it hit me. He had touched me when he had kissed the back of my hand, letting him read all of my thoughts. I glared at him, feeling the heat of my anger burn inside of me, but I repressed it as much as I could, and spoke in a civilized manner.

"I would appreciate if you didn't call my dear Bella _a lapdog_, Aro. You and I are friends, but do not strain our relationship. I will not tolerate that you insult me or my family."

He gave me a small bow and smiled ruefully. "I am sorry for insulting you Caroline, I truly meant no harm." He gave a small look towards Edward, like he hadn't noticed that he was there until now and smiled slowly in thought.

"I see, I see… Interesting! What an exciting day this has turned out to be. I promise you I will help you with your dilemma, my dear, but I'm afraid it will have to wait until after this _meeting_. It's not safe to speak here, I am sure you understand. But I give you my word that I will assist you in this predicament. Now if you will excuse me, I have to go and speak to a few more people." After giving us a small nod, he turned and walked away towards a small group of people that were standing in the other side of the room, all of them deeply engaged in a heated discussion.

I turned around to look at the others, and when I spoke, I made sure my voice was smaller than the greatest whisper so only they could hear what I said and no one else. "Keep your eyes open and look for suspicious behavior. We'll rendezvous when it's over. Understood?" All of them gave small nods, and without any further notice, we began to spread out throughout the room, studying the faces we saw in the crowd. I said hallo to some people I knew, but mostly, I tried to be silent so I could observe. I saw in the corner of my eye how Aro climbed the stairs to the platform in the end of the room, formed to look like a small stage.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for gathering here tonight." Aro spoke, his voice carrying through the whole room with ease. As soon as he had begun speaking, every discussion in the room ended and everyone's attention went to him. "The main reason I gathered you all here today is because I wanted to discuss something important. Something _close to heart_." His gaze travelled to the other side of the room and a horrible scream of man filled the room, making everyone in his audience doing the same, including me. Two men with bloody red capes entered the room holding a man tight in a tight grip in-between them. The man was wearing a hood over his face and he was shirtless, a pair of tattered, dirty trousers the only clothing he had on him and his terrified pleas filled the room.

"No! Please no, not this! Forgive me, I didn't mean for it to happen, I am sorry! Please! _Please!_" Silence met his screams, no one daring to speak, and everyone moved as the trio walked into the room, creating a clear path to the platform where Aro was standing, his face free from any emotion. They finally came forward to the end of the room, and with one last shove they pushed him down on the platform's floor, making him kneel in front of Aro. His heartbreaking sobs never stopped, and Aro, dramatic as he was, made a flourished gesture as he removed the hood of the man and then motioned towards him, looking at his audience.

"Do you see this? This is not a vampire. This is a _traitor_. He decided to abandon our laws and disobey our society. This despicable person fed and killed more than 30 women and exposed himself to the human society. At least 20 people saw him as he fed on them, and this has not been easy to quiet down. This man betrayed us all, not just the Volturi but all vampires."

He paused dramatically, letting his words sink in, and then turned towards the man. He was still sobbing silently. I did not recognize him, but he seemed to be a young one, perhaps 30 years when he changed but he could not have been a vampire for more than 10 years.

"Please, I beg of you, please…"

"This is what happens if you defy us." And then, with no large effort at all, Aro decapitated him by twisting his head off.

***Bella's POV***

We continued to walk in silence through the dimly lit corridors, and the longer it took, the more confused I became. Where were we going? I knew I had a bad sense of direction, but it seemed like Jacob did too. It felt like we had gone around in circles for several minutes now.

"Are we lost? Do you know were we're going?" I asked him hesitantly, not wanting him to be mad but he just glared forward and didn't answer me. So I guess we _were _lost then. I was just about to ask him again when I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Well hello again, Miss Swan I-eh I mean Bella!" Turning around, I saw Mike walking a few meters behind me, his pace fast as he scurried forward. He smiled happily towards me and I smiled back, happy to see a familiar face. Mike glanced nervously towards Jacob, who looked about as happy as a storm cloud at the moment, and spoke hesitantly, stammering as he did.

"W-hat are you two doing out here this late? It has to be at least two o'clock at night." He looked at Jacob again, this time more angrily and I could see a small blush spreading on his cheeks.

"Caroline and the others were looking for me so Jacob was just showing me the way, right Jacob?" I answered, smiling hesitantly, but Jacob gave no answer, he just glared at Mike. Then, without any warning, he grabbed my arm and began to walk forward. "We need to hurry, they don't like to be kept waiting." Was all he said, and I guess he didn't want to stay any longer in Mike's company more than he had to. I frowned, finding it a little odd and then looked back apologetically at Mike who stood openmouthed a few meters back, shock and confusion lingering in his face. I felt bad for him as he stood there, so I smiled sadly towards him, hoping he would forgive us.

"Sorry, we have to go, see you later!" I called back at him, hoping he wasn't hurt that we had left so hurriedly, and just managed to catch his smile as we rounded another corner. Mike was a very sweet person, and even though he wasn't perhaps a favorite friend of mine, I still thought he was a nice human being… so what on earth had made Jacob behave so rudely just now? I turned towards Jacob and glared at him.

"What was that all about? You didn't have to be rude towards him; he's your friend! You could at least have been a little bit nicer, maybe talked a bit or something." I scolded him, not liking his behavior. What was with him today? Had something else happened that he wasn't telling me about? Obviously something wasn't right, but I couldn't out my finger upon what it was. He was just much ruder than usual, not at all talkative like he usually is. Maybe he was just tired; it was late into the night after all…

Instead of answering, he steered me towards a door to our left and to my surprise, instead of leading into an assembly hall as I had thought, we were outside in the cold. The moon, which had been shining brightly underneath Edward and I a few hours ago, had gone behind the clouds and strong winds blew past me viciously, making me freeze. I turned around towards him and frowned.

"What are we doing here Jacob? I thought we were going to the assembly hall?" I asked, suddenly feeling a small chill of fear crawling up my spine. What was going on? This was _not_ the way to the assembly hall as far as I knew.

He stared back at me, and for the first time of the night, his eyes seemed unnaturally dark. "We have to hurry, they don't like to be kept waiting." He spoke again, repeating what he had said earlier tonight, and my fear started to grow into a small panic. His voice, which I had dismissed as fatigue before, sounded slow and free from feelings, like an emotionless monotone. His stance, which I had thought was stiff because of the irritation he felt for Edward's and my relationship, was so clearly forced and not his own. How could I have been so blind and not have noticed? Something was clearly wrong, and at that moment, the only thing I wanted more was to get away from him. My mind screamed at me that he was dangerous, a threat to my life, and even though I wanted to run away from him as fast as I could, my feet wouldn't move. Fear kept me in place, stopping me from running away, and I took a deep, shaky breath to stop me from panicking.

"Jacob, what's happening?" I asked again, trying to keep my voice cool and level, but it came out as a panicked squeak. I tried to remove my arm from his hand, but his grip just tightened, making me gasp in pain. "Jacob, stop! You're hurting me!"

"They sent me to get you." He spoke again in his stiff voice, and I felt like an idiot as I recalled our earlier encounter. He hadn't specified _whom_ it was who had sent him. I just assumed that it was Caroline and the others. I wanted to hit myself for being so idiotic, so careless with my own life. But why would Jacob do this? I thought we were friends! Was it he who had attempted the other attack as well? He couldn't have…

He started to move forward towards the railing, dragging me along with him and that ended all of my previous thoughts and I began to struggle against him, absolutely terrified now. It was no question about it; Jacob Black was trying to end my life.

"Jacob what are you doing?! Stop! Don't do this! Please, please stop! Don't-" I screamed in terror, hoping that someone around us would hear me, but before I knew it, Jacob released my arm and grabbed my neck in a chokehold, lifting me off the ground. I could feel the railing behind me, and I frantically scratched at his hand, trying to get him to release me so I could breathe again, but it was no use. He was super strong, just like the vampires, and no matter how hard I tugged, his grip didn't loosen. He stared back at me, his face clean from all emotions and I was surprised to see someone so cold, so emotionless when attempting to take someone else's life. But then I saw it in his eyes. Those dark, dark eyes lightened a bit, and with it came emotions; sadness, fear, regret, guilt, anger. His hand was still around my throat, choking the life out of me, but he looked torn about it, like he didn't want to do it, but he didn't have a choice.

"I'm sorry Bella. I am so, _so_ sorry."

Those were the last words I heard before he threw me overboard and the water engulfed me in its terrific waves.

**Playlist: Sweet Nothing – Calvin Harris ft. Florence Welch**


	16. The Angel of Death

**A/N: Thanks to BeyondSanity12, crawfish4, Edward's spouse, lizakimiko & mslm for reviewing! It means a lot to me :D Here's a new exciting chapter, please enjoy!**

**Chapter 16: The Angel of Death**

I hit the water with a great force and landed deep beneath the surface. It was agonizingly cold and the pain from the fall and the chill of the icy water made me exclaim, the last bit of air leaving my lips. A small amount of water entered my lungs, feeling as if fire had licked the insides of my chest and I tried to hold my breath and orientate myself in order to find out which direction the surface was at; at that moment I couldn't tell up from down. Opening my eyes was painful, making me shut them close again but after blinking a few times, I was able to see although everything was blurry. Darkness surrounded me, and I could not see anything around me except swirls of bubbles and the blackness of the sea, but a vague light seemed to shine down on me, letting me know which way the top was at.

But it was only when I spotted light that I realized how far I had sunk. I was too far away, and if I didn't start swimming, I would drown. But the problem was…_I couldn't swim_. I had never learned how. We had never lived near a lake or the ocean, so I had never gotten the opportunity to learn, and although it seemed silly a few hours ago, at this moment it was crucial for my survival. Either I swim or I _die_. Panic started to grow, my heart beating furiously in my chest and although I had no idea how to begin, I instinctively began to move my arms and legs repeatedly, my actions controlled by an inner survival instinct. That instinct was like a scream in utter silence; DON'T GIVE UP! KEEP KICKING WITH YOUR LEGS! KEEP MOVING YOUR ARMS! _DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP__! _LIVE BELLA! _LIVE!_

I tried my best at swimming against the strong currents around me as my lungs screamed for the precious air above, but my efforts were of no use; it was like moving through thick syrup. Instead of going upward, I slowly started to sink towards the bottom, my dress acting like an anchor to a ship. My muscles screamed in protest as I treaded the water around me, feeling the effect of lack of oxygen. I was exhausted and it wouldn't be long until I was out of air. After continuing my fight against the tides for what felt like several minutes (but what was probably only seconds), my tired body couldn't do it any longer. No matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to do anything. So I stopped swimming and began to swirl into the darkness of the ocean, feeling weightless in the motions of the waves. As the panic started to diminish and unconsciousness wasn't far away, my thoughts drifted away, recalling my life. Bits and pieces flashed before my eyes: my childhood, the Cullens, the house I had grown up in, friends I had lost and friends I had found… But what remained in my thoughts were the faces of those I loved: Caroline, my parents…_Edward._

So this was the end? Was this going to be the conclusion of my story? My life was just beginning, my story just unraveled, when _this_ happens. I was dying and I had hardly begun to live. I had just discovered who I was, who I wanted to be and _whom_ I wanted to be _with_, and soon all of it was going to cease to matter. _I was dying_. In a few minutes I would be dead and then all of the problems and issues of my life would disappear together with me. A part of me was relieved. I had nothing else to worry about now, no more pain. I wouldn't suffer a horrible and crude death of a vampire nor would I have to face the humiliation of aging when Caroline and Edward would stay youthful and healthy forever. _This_ was my end and …I had accepted it. But there were still parts of me that grieved and dreamed of the things that could have been. I would never discover what the future held for Edward and I; I would never know what our love could have been. Sadness struck me in the heart like a knife, and I suddenly felt this great sorrow. I would never see Edward again…

_Forgive me Edward. Please don't hate me for giving up. I tried, but it wasn't enough… __I__ wasn't enough in the end. I hope we will see each other on the other side…_

Those were my last thoughts as I soared towards the light, surrounding me in a warm cocoon of tranquil relief.

***Caroline's POV***

After the public execution, the meeting ended fairly quickly. Nobody in the crowd really felt like staying behind after such a gruesome thing, so when Aro dismissed everyone and let them continue with their business of the evening, the room was emptied in less than a minute. I glanced towards the stage as two vampires dressed in red came forward and grabbed the remains of the vampire on the podium, feeling disgusted. Everything about him was awful, and even though some would think less of me for doing so, I was glad Aro had executed him. A vampire going rouge was even worse than a newborn because even though they both were out of control with their bloodlust, a rouge vampire had _chosen_ that fate. They chose to slaughter innocence humans and disobey the laws of the vampire society. But at same time as I was glad that he was gone from this world, I was sad as well. Even though this vampire was nothing like him, he reminded me of Hans. My lovely Hans… He had died like this as well, getting decapitated and then burned in a pyre. Just the thought of it made my chest squeeze with pain.

"Are you alright Caroline?" Aro's voice brought me back to the present, and as I looked up I saw him standing there, in front of me with a concerned look on his face. "I do apologize if this event did not suit your taste although I actually thought you would be a bit joyful that we caught the foul thing and put him in his place."

I shook my head and gave him a small, stiff smile. He would never understand. Aro was not a sensitive man. Emotions, especially human ones, puzzled him utterly. Back in the days, there were a lot of moments that we would get ourselves in lots of heated discussions based on moral issues. Love was something unknown to him; all he'd ever cared about was power and structure.

"No, I'm fine. I did find your display very… _charming._" I looked to my left and saw how Edward and the rest of them reassembled in a small group a few feet away from us. Edward's frustrated look said it all; there had been no luck in our little investigation. I hadn't found anything either; no one showed unusual behavior or signs of being magically involved with anything. Our failure made me sigh in frustration and disappointment, and I turned towards Aro again, hoping he would be more useful than our attempt. "I would appreciate if you would help us now."

Aro smiled and bowed. "It would be my pleasure."

We left the assembly hall fairly quickly after that since we were all anxious to head back to the Cullen suite and discuss out plans. We walked through the corridors together as Aro talked in a confident voice. "This is quite a mystery indeed, but I think we need not to worry. I know everyone on this boat, from guest to servant and if anyone onboard has had anything to do with this incident, I _will_ know it."

"But there are hundreds of people here! As soon as words start spreading that you're interrogating people about this, the guilty one will be long gone, hiding away somewhere were he or she can't be found." Emmett retorted, sounding very skeptical to Aro's _brilliant_ plan. On this, I actually agreed with Emmett. Aro of course knew everyone and would know if they were involved just by touching someone, but if he didn't interrogate the culprit first, people would start to talk.

"Emmett's right. If we are going to do this, we need a plan."

Aro looked at me disapprovingly, offended that I had insulted his capability to solve the situation, but before he even had a chance to defend himself, a servant exited a door a few feet ahead and stopped dead as soon as he saw us. I recognized him; it was that cute little servant that had a crush on Bella! What was his name again? Jack? Mitch? I frowned in thought when it suddenly came to me…. Mike! That was it! Mike watched us with wide eyes, evidently surprised to find nine vampires, all of them with a high social status standing in front of him, watching him carefully. He gave me a small nervous smile and to my surprise, he actually started to walk towards us! How interesting… normally when human servants met a cluster of vampires, they walked the other way.

Edward's form became rigid and before I could ask him what the matter was, Mike began to speak. "H-h-hello Miss Gray. Did Bella find you earlier as you had requested?"

Confusion struck me, and I stared at him with wide eyes. What was he blubbering about? "I am sorry, but I do not understand what you mean." I spoke slowly, trying to hold the panic at bay. Had something happened?

Mike, who now seemed very uncertain of himself, glanced between Edward and myself, his hands twitching nervously. "I-I mean, earlier this evening I met Miss Swan and Mr. Black over in the east section of the boat. She said that you had called for her and that she and Mr. Black was heading to you… is this not correct?"

I completely froze and watched the pitiful human in his nervous state. Panic, fear and anger started to boil within me into a dangerous mix and thoughts rushed through me. _What?!_ I had _not_ called for Bella nor had I told Jacob to go and get her. I turned towards Edward, and it was obvious he was as confused and frightened by this fact as I was. My first instinct was to run at full speed towards the suite and check on her. It took me a lot of effort to stay in my place. I looked at Alice and gave a determined look.

"Tell me where Bella is. _Now_."

Alice, who seemed as surprised by this as everyone else, nodded and closed her eyes, focusing. "I…"She began, but then frowned and trailed off. "I can't tell exactly where she is, everything is so…blurry."

"She has to be with Jacob still, his presence can disturb the power of a vampire's gift. "Aro concluded as he frowned in thought. "The question is…why?"

Alice growled in frustration. "It's impossible to tell where she is! Argh, this is _so_ _vexing_! All I know is that she is somewhere where it's dark and…" she paused a few seconds and then opened her eyes, eyes that were filled with fear and concern. "She's scared."

Edward shot me an urgent look, and I understood what he meant right away.

_Yes, go and look if she's there. Make haste, Edward. We have no time to waste. _

My thoughts were all Edward needed, and in less than a second Edward had disappeared from the spot and were headed towards the suite to check if Bella was there. I took a deep shaky breath as a weak attempt to try to calm myself, but it was of no use. How could this have happened? How could we have been so _stupid_? How could _I_ have been so stupid? We should never have left her alone! I should have stayed with her and let the others go to the meeting in my stead. That should have been the rational thing to do. Instead, we chose to leave her alone when we knew the danger she was in. We _knew_ someone was after her and even so, we _left_ her! I wanted to scream in frustration for acting so foolishly, but that would hardly help now. I knew it was a slim chance, but what I really hoped for was that Bella was still in the safety of the suite, just sleeping or having a nightmare. That would explain Alice's vision…wouldn't it?

"Is something wrong? Is Bella in danger?! Oh god, please don't –" The human began to speak, mumbling out panicked nonsense, and I shot him a dangerous glare.

"Be _quiet_. Only speak when you are spoken to." After seeing the fear in his eyes and knowing that my threat was successful, I turned towards Aro. "Go and read his thoughts to see what exactly happened when the human saw them."

Aro nodded and complied, moving towards the frightened human. I turned towards Alice and spoke urgently. "Alice, is it possible for you to see where Jacob is?"

"No, I _can't_. The werewolves are impossible to read. All I get is this wave of…nothing. Like their future doesn't exist!" She hissed angrily, mad that her talent was useless in a crucial moment like this. Alice always knew what was going to happen in any situation. Being clueless like the rest of us made her furious, and since this concerned a dear friend of her, it didn't make the situation any better. I was glad that Jasper was there and giving her calming waves so she wouldn't go on a killing-rave out of sheer annoyance.

I swore in frustration and looked at my dear old friend Carlisle. He and Esme were standing next to each other on the right side of Alice and Jasper. Both of them looked extremely worried, but I knew that that was worry for their son and not Bella and I couldn't really blame them. Their concerns probably were based on Edward's wellbeing and happiness, but at this moment I didn't care. If Bella disappeared or… _died_, both Edward and I would be tremendously unstable. Emotional trauma to a vampire had horrible consequences. What happened to me after Hans was nothing compared to what could have been. There have been several cases when a vampire's mate has died and he or she have gone rouge and gone on a killing-spree. The pain becomes too much, so instead of feeling it like you should, you shut it off and become an emotionless, remorseless killing machine. The possibility that Edward and I ended up like that was so frightening I hardly wanted to think about it, but I knew it _was _a possibility. We really needed to find Bella, or else…

A swirl of wind announced that Edward was back. His panic-stricken expression told me that all of my fears were true. Bella wasn't in the suite. She was gone and we had no idea where Jacob had taken her. Anger burned within me, and forgetting all previous thoughts of needing to stay calm, I felt my powers blast out of control. Before I could stop it from happening, a large crack was created in the right wall, right behind the human and he turned around in surprise and screamed in fright.

"Bella is gone. We have no time to loose. We need to track hers and Jacob's scents in order to find them before it's too late." 

"Well that will be easy, those _mutts_ reek. I can smell it even from here." Rosaline remarked with disgust laced in her voice. I took a deep breath through my nose and I noticed it as well, small but clear. Jacob's scent wasn't far away. I turned towards Aro and spoke with urgency, wanting to go as fast as I could.

"Where were Bella and Jacob last seen?"

"East section, near the feeding section." Aro said after he had grabbed Mike's hand for a final confirmation. I nodded and then turned towards the others and spoke as fast as I could.

"Everyone, let's go. Use your sense of smell and try to sniff them out. We'll head to the feeding section and start from there." Wasting no time, I started running straight away, flashing through the corridors at lightning speed. I took deep breaths as I ran, and I could sense Bella's distinctive smell right away. We were on the right track; that was for sure. When we arrived at the feeding station, their scents were stronger, fresher. They couldn't have left this spot longer than 10 minutes ago.

"They were recently here." Edward said, confirming my previous thoughts. I was older than him, but he was a much better tracker than me, that was for sure.

"Then let us continue; they can't be far away." I started running again, and this time it was much easier to tell where they had gone. The trail continued for some bit down the same corridor, but when the corridor almost came to and end the trail went out a door to the left, leading outside. I sprung the door open using my powers, and exited out into the night. The weather had gotten worse throughout the evening, and now cold winds mixed with rain were blowing viciously around us. I looked around and felt the panic brewing again. Bella was out in _this_ weather? This was not good, not at all. I looked at Edward, and he didn't look much calmer than I felt.

"Where did they go? The wind and rain has made the trail too weak for me to follow." I asked Edward, feeling lost. Behind me I heard how the others started to catch up to Edward and I. Edward frowned and looked around, walking forward.

"Jacob's scent is a lot stronger than hers. They were here though, not long ago. They walked here…"he started to move forward towards the railing and just as he came close enough to touch it, he stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, panic in his eyes.

"Bella's trail ends here."

Everything stopped. The rain, wind, and the voices behind me of the others…everything faded until there was nothing left. The trail had ended by the railing of the boat. _Her_ trail. I froze in place and panic began to mix together with coldblooded fear. Had she been thrown off the boat? She couldn't even swim! Was it a trick of some sort? Had they kidnapped her and made it look like a murder?

A small groan was sounded from my left, and it took me back to the present. The sound came from behind some boxes under a pair of stairs, and it was a groan of a man. A man I was already familiar with. Anger clouded my vision, and now all I saw was red. I wanted to kill. I wanted to feed. I wanted to hurt everything and everyone, but especially _him_. I ran towards the noise, and in less than a second I was at his side, holding him above the ground with his throat in my hands. Jacob's eyes bulged out in fear and I squeezed harder until his neck was on the verge of breaking.

"_Where. Is. she?_"

**Bella's POV**

After the light, darkness came. It was like I was floating endlessly through the universe, weightless and free. But surprisingly, I was not afraid. There was something about the darkness that was soothing instead of frightening. Then, the darkness slowly disappeared, replaced by soft light. It was then that I knew this had to be heaven. I had finally arrived, and by my side I had an angel to show me the way. His cool touch appeared out of nowhere and it felt like soft caresses, guiding me through the unknown, his soothing whispers and mumbles cradling me in an illusion of safety. I was placed on a soft cloud and to my surprise it was warm, almost like a pelt in the winter. But then something icy cold suddenly touched my arm, making me gasp in surprise.

"Relax there pet, it will be fine. All I need is a bit of blood, that is all…" the angel spoke soothingly, caressing my cheek. I leaned into his embrace; glad he was there again and smiled. _It will be fine because he said so. All he need is a bit of blood…_ my thoughts trailed off in confusion. Blood? A sudden tension filled my body, and some part of my brain screamed at me, screamed to remember. _Remember why you are __here__._

Memories came rushing back, and fear replaced the safety I had felt earlier. A sudden sting in my arm made me gasp in pain and I opened my eyes. And quite right, instead seeing an angel in front of me, I saw a monster with gleaming red eyes that smirked with mirth, a bloody knife in his hand.

"I'm glad you're finally awake. You and I are going to have so much _fun…_"

"W-who are you?" I gasped.

He smiled a terrifying smile and then brought the knife up to his mouth and licked the blood off it in one slow motion. Then, he spoke. "I am the one who is going to kill you."

**Playlist: Bleeding Out – Imagine Dragons **


End file.
